An experimental device is enabling paralysed people to drive wheelchairs simply by flicking their tongue in the right direction. Users get their tongue pierced with a magnetic stud that resembles jewellery but acts like a joystick for a wireless system.
Researchers said on Wednesday that 11 people paralysed from the neck down rapidly learned to use the device to pilot their wheelchairs through an obstacle course full of twists and turns, and to operate a computer.
"It's really powerful because it's so intuitive," said Jason DiSanto, 39, who was among the first spinal cord injury patients to try out the system. "The first time I did it, people thought I was driving for, like, years."
The research, reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine, is an early step that allowed use of the device only inside laboratories. Larger studies in real-world conditions are required before it ever could be sold. And the tongue piercing may be a turn-off for some potential users, the researchers acknowledge.
But the work is attracting attention from specialists who say there's a big need for more assistive technologies for the severely disabled
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