Tongue Drive
From: Northwestern Alumni Magazine - Fall 2011 - page 16

Martin Mireles, who was paralyzed nearly two decades ago, is part of a study
of the Tongue Drive System at the Feinberg School of Medicine. 

For former church youth leader Martin Mireles, the barbell in his tongue is
more than body art. It's a tool for greater independence. 

Shot in the neck nearly two decades ago, Mireles suffered a spinal cord
injury and has been confined to a wheelchair since. He's participating in a
Northwestern Medicine study of the Tongue Drive System, which enables
disabled individuals to steer a wheelchair or move a computer cursor using
their tongues. 

Researchers pierced Mireles' tongue and inserted a magnetic barbell that,
when moved inside the mouth, stimulates a wireless signal that interacts with
the wheelchair and computer software. 

Anne Laumann, the principal investigator for the clinical trial and professor
of dermatology at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, read about an
early prototype of the technology developed at Georgia Tech. Laumann, who has
done work with body art in the past, learned that researchers had been gluing
the magnet to the tongue. But the magnet frequently fell off, which could
pose a danger to paralyzed patients. 

"Why not pierce the tongue?" she thought. 

The tongue is ideal because it's a sophisticated muscle that can do complex
movements without tiring. It's also rarely affected by spinal cord injury.
Using the tongue for environmental control has another advantage, Laumann
said, because it is hidden and allows the user privacy. 

Though Mireles said it took time for him to acclimate to the device, he can
now steer his wheelchair through an obstacle course and play video games on a
computer, something he could not do otherwise. "This could dramatically
change my life," he said. 

In the future this technology could be used to control other aspects of a
disabled person's life. Putting the tongue is one of six positions in the
mouth could signal a different command, such as turning on a light, answering
the phone or opening the door. 

"This is a universal system," Laumann said. "Theoretically, it could be used
for almost anything for the severely disabled to be able to access their
environments."  

Links:
Tongue-Drive System (with video)
http://www.wgntv.com/news/medicalwatch/wgntv-tongue-drive-aug9,0,1227181.story

Anne Laumann
http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/depts/dermatology/faculty/clinical/laumann.html
http://www.ric.org/research/clinicaltrials/ResearcherDetail.aspx?DoctorID=165

Steer a wheelchair with a tongue piercing?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/body-oddity/steer-a-wheelchair-with-a-tongue-piercing/

Piercing a Tongue, in the Name of Mobility
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/health/07tongue.html

For the disabled, pierced tongues may one day steer wheelchairs
http://trialx.com/curetalk/2011/06/for-the-disabled-pierced-tounges-may-one-day-steer-wheelchairs/

Piercings as aids to motion
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-06/19/content_12730055.htm

Piercing a tongue, in the name of mobility
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110610/NEWS0107/106100353/&template=print