Tongue Drive system

INTRODUCTION
Persons with disabilities as a result of various causes, from brain injury and spinal cord injury , generally find performing everyday tasks extremely difficult without continuous help. To help all those people engineers at Georgia developed a new technology called as TONGUE DRIVE SYSTEM.

WHAT IS TONGUE DRIVE SYSTEM?

a wireless, non contact,tongue-operated assistive technology Wireless tongue-operated assistive technology for people with little or no upperlimb function non-invasive technology Tongue Drive system will be helpful to individuals with serious disabilities

Requirements to use Tongue drive system

To operate the Tongue Drive system, users only need to be able to move their tongues. we need to attach a small magnet, the size of a grain of rice, to an individual's tongue by implantation. Sensitive magnetic sensors Magnetic tracer

Tongue Drive System Prototypes

HOW IT WORKS?

First of all,a small permanent magnet the size of a grain of rice is secured to the tongue as a magnetic tracer by using simple implantation under the tongue through injection.

HOW IT WORKS?

Where itll use?

1. Industrial area 2. Medical sectors 3. Scientific sectors

Tongue operated assistive devices

Tongue touch keypad Tongue mouse Tongue point

Tongue touch keypad

It is a switch based system Itll adjusted maximum user comfort

Tongue Mouse
It has an array of piezoelectric ceramic sensors Which elements can detect strength and position of a touch by the tongue.

Tongue Point
It can adapts the IBM track point pressure sensitive isometric joystick for use inside the mouth. Which can cause inconvenience during speaking or eating.

MAGNETIC FIELD
The magnetic field generated by the tracer inside and around the mouth varies as a result of the tongue movements. These variations are detected by an array of sensitive magnetic sensors mounted on a headset outside the mouth, similar to a head-worn microphone. The sensor output signals are wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user's wheelchair.

MAGNETIC FIELD
Uses Faradays law of induction.
whenever the magnetic field about an electromagnet was made to grow and collapse by closing and opening the electric circuit of which it was a part, an electric current could be detected in a separate conductor nearby. Moving a permanent magnet into and out of a coil of wire also induced a current in the wire while the magnet was in motion. Moving a conductor near a stationary permanent magnet caused a current to flow in the wire, too, as long as it was moving.

MAGNETIC FIELD
Uses Flemings-Right-Hand Rule.

sensitive magnetic sensors

Two sensitive magnetic sensors are attached as a headset and the sensor outputs are wirelessly transmitted to a personal digital assistant (PDA) also worn by the user. A sensor signal converts them into user control commands that are then wirelessly communicated to the targeted devices.

WHY CHOOSE THE TONGUE?

Engineer , chose the tongue to operate the system because unlike hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord. The tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases. Tongue movements are also fast and accurate It do not require much thinking, concentration or effort.

NON INVASIVE
The Tongue Drive system is non-invasive and does not require brain surgery like some of the brain-computer interface technologies.

DESIGN
Ghovanloo, the Georgia Tech researcher, designed software that converts the position of the tongue into joystick or mouse movements, allowing the severely disabled to control a wheelchair or computer. The setup could provide an simple and powerful means of locomotion for the disabled.

Commands
Ghovanloo's group recently completed trials in which six able-bodied individuals tested the Tongue Drive system. Each participant defined six tongue commands that would substitute for computer mouse tasks -- left, right, up and down pointer movements and single- and double-click. An individual could potentially train system to recognize touching each tooth as a different command . The ability to train system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember .

ADVANTAGES OF TONGUE DRIVE SYSTEM

The principal advantage of the TDS is that its 100 percent of commands were accurate with the response time less than one second, which equals to an information transfer rate of approximately 150 bits per minute. The ability to train system with as many commands as an individual can comfortably remember is a significant advantage. The user can also define a command to switch the TDS to standby mode when he or she wants to sleep, engage in a conversation, or eat.

OTHER ADVANTAGES
This technology will reduce the need of individuals with disabilities to receive continuous help from family members or caregivers. Thus significantly reducing healthcare and assistance costs. This system may also make it easier for them to work and communicate with others, such as friends and family.

USES
The ultimate goal in developing the TDS is to help people with severe disabilities. It preserve an independent, self-supportive life for them. This technology allows a disabled person to use tongue when moving a computer mouse or a powered wheelchair.

Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering

Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student Xueliang Huo moves his tongue to direct the Tongue Drive system to move the powered wheelchair in a different direction.

FUTURE TECHNOLOGY
The research team has also begun to develop software to connect the Tongue Drive system to a wide variety of readily available communication tools such as text generators, speech synthesizers and readers. In addition, the researchers plan to add control commands, such as switching the system into standby mode to permit the user to eat, sleep or engage in a conversation while extending battery life.

REFERENCE
http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/gtbionics/research_tds.shtml http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload =true&arnumber=6392916 http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/gouthams aparam-1558879-tongue-drive-system/ https://www.prjpublication.com%2FPrjAdmin%2FUplo adFolder%2FTONGUE%2520DRIVE%2520SYSTEM %2520TO%2520OPERATE%2520COMPUTERS2.pdf