Tongue piercing can be used for wheelchair control

The Tongue Drive System is essentially a magnetic tongue stud that lets users use their tongue as a joystick to drive their wheelchair. Sensors in the stud relay the tongue's position wirelessly to a headset, which then executes up to six commands based on the tongue position. In clinical trials on 23 able-bodied people and 11 with tetraplegia, six positions in the mouth were programmed to control a wheelchair or a computer. On average, the people with tetraplegia were able to perform tasks three times as fast and with the same level of accuracy as with the other technologies available, such as sip-and-puff wheelchairs. Elliot Roth, a researcher at Northwestern University who helped with the project, said: "The Tongue Drive System is a novel technology that empowers people with disability to achieve maximum independence at home and in the community, by enabling them to drive a power wheelchair and control their environment in a smoother and more intuitive way. "The opportunity to use this high tech innovation to improve the quality of life among people with mobility limitations is very exciting."