Evaluation of the Tongue Drive System by Individuals with High-Level Spinal Cord Injury

The Tongue Drive System (TDS) is an assistive technology that allows people with disabilities to control devices using their tongue. It detects tongue movements via a small magnet attached to the tongue. An external TDS (eTDS) prototype was built on a wireless headphone and interfaced with a laptop and a powered wheelchair. This allows users to control computers and wheelchairs using specific tongue movements. The eTDS was tested on eight individuals with spinal cord injuries, who were able to perform computer tasks and navigate a wheelchair through an obstacle course.

• 1
  All subjects could successfully perform computer access tasks, such as controlling a mouse cursor and playing computer games.
• 2
  Subjects were able to navigate a powered wheelchair through an obstacle course using the tongue drive system.
• 3
  Continuous control of the wheelchair was more efficient than discrete control, with faster navigation and fewer collisions.