From wsoctv.com

Researchers at Georgia Technical Institute of Technology are developing a new way for users to control power wheelchairs, using a technology called the Tongue Drive System.

Engineering Researcher, Maysam Ghovanloo, Ph.D., says the system uses a small magnet attached to the end of the tongue. As the tongue moves in specific directions, sensors on an external headset detect the position of the magnet. The information is sent from a wireless transmitter on the headset to a computer, which translates the information into programmed signals for movement of the wheelchair.

In initial testing at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, researchers found users could quickly learn how to use the tongue drive system to operate a power wheelchair. They could even navigate the wheelchair through an obstacle course.

The tongue drive system is still in development and testing. Eventually, Ghovanloo envisions the magnet will be incorporated into a tongue piercing and the sensors embedded in a retainer-like device. That would keep the entire system out of sight and enable users to invisibly operate their wheelchairs. Ghovanloo says most people with spinal cord damage could use a tongue drive system because the nerve that controls tongue movement is rarely damaged. The tongue is also a powerful muscle that doesn’t tire easily.