Tongue Drive System is a new revolutionary system to help individuals with

disabilities to control wheelchairs, computers and other devices simply by using their
tongue. It is a noncontact, unobtrusive, tongue-operated assistive technology. Tongue Drive
system will be helpful to individuals with serious disabilities, such as those with severe
spinal cord injuries and will allow them to lead more active and independent lives.
Individuals using a tongue-based system should only be able to move their tongue,
which is especially important if a person has paralyzed limbs. A tiny magnet, only a size of a
grain of rice, is attached to an individual's tongue using implantation, piercing or adhesive.
This technology allows a disabled person to use tongue when moving a computer mouse or
a powered wheelchair. Scientists chose the tongue to control the system because unlike the
feet and the hands, which are connected by brain through spinal cord, the tongue and the
brain has a direct connection through cranial nerve. In case when a person has a severe
spinal cord injure or other damage, the tongue will remain mobile to activate the system.
Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration
or effort. The motions of the magnet attached to the tongue are spotted by a number of
magnetic field sensors installed on a headset worn outside or an orthodontic brace inside
the mouth. The signals coming from the sensors are wirelessly sent to a portable computer
that placed on a wheelchair or attached to an individual's clothing. The Tongue Drive system
is touch-free, wireless and non-invasive technology that needs no surgery for its operation.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Assistive Technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative
devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating,
and using them. Assistive technologies are critical for people with severe disabilities to lead
a self-supportive independent life. AT promotes greater independence by enabling people
to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty
accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with,
the technology needed to accomplish such tasks.
Sip n puff- Sip-and-Puff or Sip 'n' Puff (SNP) technology is a method used to send signals to
a device using air pressure by "sipping" (inhaling) or "puffing" (exhaling) on a straw, tube or
"wand." It is primarily used by people who do not have the use of their hands. It is
commonly used to control a motorized wheelchair by quadriplegics with very high injury to
their spinal column or people with ALS.
Voice activated powered wheelchair- Powered wheelchairs with the standard joystick interface
are unable to control by many people. A voice controlled wheelchair can provide easy access for
physical disabled person who cannot control their movements especially the hands.WHEN user
speaks commands, a microphone in a throat detects the vibration of vocal cord. Once the voice
recognition system recognizes the voice commands in comparison to the prestored memory, the
respective coded digital signals would be sent to Processor which then controls the wheelchair
accordingly.

The TDS provides people with minimal or no movement ability in their upper limbs
with an efficacious tool for computer access and environmental control. Tongue Drive
consists of A small permanent magnet secured on the tongue by implantation, piercing, or
tissue adhesives is used as a tracer, the movement of which is detected by an array of
magnetic field sensors mounted on a headset outside the mouth or on an orthodontic brace
inside. The sensor outputs signals are wirelessly transmitted to an ultraportable computer
carried on the user's clothing or wheelchair and are processed to extract the user's
commands. The user can then use these commands to access a desktop computer, control a
power wheelchair, or interact with his or her environment
Y TONGUE?
TDS 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, accurate and do not require
much thinking, concentration or effort. Movement of the magnetic tracer attached to the
tongue is detected by an array of magnetic field sensors mounted on a headset outside the
mouth or on an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. The sensor output signals are
wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user's clothing
or wheelchair. The tongue can move very fast and accurately within the mouth cavity. It is
thus suitable organ for manipulating assistive devices. The tongue muscle is similar to the
heart muscle in that it does not fatigue easily. Therefore, a tongue operated device has a
very low rate of perceived exertion. Hidden from sight- it is cosmetically inconspicuous and
offers a degree of privacy for the user. The tongue can function during random or
involuntary neurological activities- muscular spasms. Non -invasive access to the tongue
movements is possible. Thus resulted in TONGUE TOUCH KEYPAD- a switch based device.
TONGUE-MOUSE- another device- an array of piezoelectric ceramic sensors, which elements
can detect strength and position of a touch by the tongue. The sensor module is fitted
within the oral cavity as dental plate. TONGUE POINT- another tongue operated device that
adapts the IBM Trackpoint pressure sensitive isometric joystick for use inside the mouth.
TDS
Tongue Drive System (TDS) tracks the tongue motion by an array of magnetic
sensors, which measure the magnetic field generated by a small permanent magnet, the
size of a grain of rice, that is coated by a biocompatible material such as titanium and
attached to the tongue via piercing, implantation, or adhesion. Magnetic sensors can be
either mounted on a dental retainer and clipped on the teeth(internal Tongue Drive System
or iTDS) or a headset(external Tongue Drive System or eTDS) positioned near cheeks. Sensor
outputs are amplified, multiplexed, digitized, and transmitted wireless to an external control
unit.
Signals received by the external controller, which can be a portable computer or a
smartphone are processed to indicate the motion of the permanent magnet and
consequently the tongue position within the oral cavity. We can assign a certain control
function to each particular tongue movement in the software and customize the system for
each individual user. These user-defined control functions may then be used to operate a
variety of devices and equipments including computers, phones and powered wheelchairs.
The signals from the magnetic sensors are linear functions of the magnetic field, which is
continuous position-dependent property. Thus a few sensors are able to capture a wide
variety of tongue movements. This mechanism can provide a tremendous advantage over
switch based devices in that user will have the options of proportional, fuzzy or adaptive
control, which can offer smoother, faster, and more natural control over the environment.
WORKING
In Tongue Drive system, the motion of the tongue is traced by an array of Hall- effect
magnetic sensors, which measure the magnetic field generated by a small permanent
magnet that is contained within a nonmagnetic fixture and pierced on the tongue. The
magnetic sensors are mounted on a dental retainer and attached on the outside of the
teeth to measure the magnetic field from different angles and provide continuous real-time
analog outputs.
The Tongue Drive System block diagram with two major units: one inside the mouth,
the mouthpiece, and the other outside, a portable body worn controller. Small batteries
such as hearing aid button-sized cells are intended to power the mouthpiece for extended
durations up to a mouth. The power management circuitry scans through the sensors and
turns them on one at a time to save power. The time division multiplexes (TDM) analog
outputs are then digitized, modulated, and transmitted to the external controller unit across
a wireless link. The magnetic field generated by the tracer inside and around the mouth
varies as a result of the tongue movements. These variationsare detected by an array of
sensitive magnetic sensors mounted on a headset outside the mouth, similar to a head-
worn microphone, or mounted on a dental retainer inside the mouth, similar to an
orthodontic brace. The sensor outputs are wirelessly transmitted to a personal digital
assistant (PDA) also worn by the user. A sensor signal processing (SSP) algorithm running on
the PDA classifies the sensor signals and converts them into user control commands that are
then wirelessly communicated to the targeted devices in the user's environment. The
principal advantage of the TDS is that a few magnetic sensors and a small magnetic tracer
can potentially capture a large number of tongue movements, each of which can represent
a particular user command. A set of specific tongue movements can be tailored for each
individual user and mapped onto a set of customized functions based on his or her abilities,
oral anatomy, personal preferences and lifestyle. 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. The signals received by the external controller unit are demodulated and de-
multiplexed to extract the individual sensor outputs. By processing these outputs, the
motion of the permanent magnet and consequently the tongue within the oral cavity is
determined. Assigning a certain control function to each particular tongue movement is
done in software and can be easily customized control functions may then individual user.
These customized control functions may then be used to operate a variety of devices and
equipments including computers, phones, and powered wheelchairs.
One prototype for human trials, shown in Figure 2, was built on a face shield to
facilitate positioning of the sensors for different subjects. The main function of this
prototype was to directly emulate the mouse pointing and selection functions with the
tongue movements. Six commands were defined: left, right, up, and down pointer
movements Q3 and single- and double-click movements. As long as the SSP algorithm was
running in the background, no additional software or learning was needed if the user was
familiar with the mouse operation and any piece of software that was operable by a mouse.
Small, cylindrical, rare-earth permanent magnets were used as magnetic tracers. A pair of
two- axis magnetic field sensor modules (PNI; Santa Rosa, California) was mounted
symmetrically at right angles on the face shield close to the user's cheeks. Each two-axis
module contained a pair of orthogonal magneto-inductive sensors, Hence, we had one
sensor along the x-axis, one along the y-axis, and two along the z-axis with respect to the
imaginary coordinates of the face shield. To minimize the effects of external magnetic field
interference, including the earth magnetic field, we used a three-axis module as a reference
electronic compass. The reference compass was placed on top of the face shield so as to be
far from the tongue magnet and to only measure the ambient magnetic field. The reference
compass output was then used to predict and cancel out the interfering magnetic fields at
the location of the main two-axis sensor modules. All seven sensor outputs, already in
digital form, were sent serially to the ultralow-power MSP430 microcontroller (Texas
Instruments; Dallas, Texas) that is the heart of the control unit. The microcontroller took
11samples/s from each sensor while activating only one module at a time to reduce power
consumption. After reading all sensors, we arranged the samples in a data frame and
wirelessly transmitted them to a personal computer (PC) across a 2.4 GHz wireless link
established between two identical nRF2401 transceivers (Nordic Semiconductor;
Trondheim, Norway). The entire system was powered by a 3.3 V coin-sized battery
(CR2032), which together with the control unit and reference compass were hidden under
the face shield cap (Figure 4).
SUBSTITUTING MOUSE FOR COMPUTER ACCESS
User can move the cursor on the screen using their tongue motions. They can also issue a
single or double click for selecting icons or opening folders. Several GUI have been
developed for the prototype Tongue Drive System. One of them is single computer game,
called Fish Tales. Accessible entertainments are even more important in improving the
quality of life for individuals with disabilities than their healthy counterparts. This
experiment evaluates the usability of the TDS n enabling user to play computer games,
which are normally controlled by keyboard or mouse. In this GUI, players use their tongue to
navigate a red fish to catch the smaller fish, while avoiding being caught by the bigger fish.
Moving the tongue in a certain direction, move the mouse cursor on the screen.
TDS FOR WHEELCHAIR CONTROL
An interface was developed that allows individuals to use the Tongue Drive System for
controlling electric-powered wheelchairs by substituting the joystick. Similar to cursor
movement on the computer screen, all that users need to do is to touch to predefined
positions in their mouth with the tip of their tongues to drive the wheelchair forward,
backward, turn left or turn right. They can accelerate the wheelchair by holding their
tongues in the forward position, and decelerate by returning their tongues back to its
resting position. They can even control their powered seating position for weight shifts by
switching the wheelchair control mode from driving to seating control
MODES IN POWERED WHEEL CHAIR
Operated the powered wheelchair using two different control strategies:
1. DISCRETE MODE
Discrete mode, designed for novice users, and continuous mode for more experienced
users. In discrete mode, if the user issued the command to move forward and then wanted
to turn right, the user would have to stop the wheelchair before issuing the command to
turn right. The default stop command was when the tongue returned to its resting position,
bringing the wheelchair to a standstill.Discrete mode is a safety feature particularly for
novice users, but it reduces the agility of the wheel chair movement.
2. CONTINUOUS MODE
In continuous mode, however, the user is allowed to steer the powered wheelchair to the
left or right as it is moving forward and backward, thus making it possible to follow a curve.
TDS FUNCTIONS & APPLICATIONS
The TDS headset function is sensing and wirelessly transmitting the magnetic signals
from around the mouth, where they change based on the tongue position. The number of
magnetic sensors was increased from 2 to 4 in order to increase the dimensions of the
acquired data set and track the tongue position more accurately. This change can potentially
enhance the TDS performance by allowing users to define more tongue commands. In
addition, we intend to include Bluetooth and audio functions in the new headset to provide
a bidirectional wireless voice data transmission as a wireless headphone. As a result, the
new headset can be incorporated with voice recognition software such as Dragon and used
as a multi-modal tongue and voice controller. The recently developed TDS-smartphone
interface processes the incoming signals from the headset through a wireless receiver
dongle. This interface provides easy access to the smartphone itself as well as any
application running on it [6]. Fig. 5 shows the new TDS headset and its iPhone interface
connected to the power wheelchair (PWC). The TDS-iPhone interface wirelessly acquires
data from the magnetic sensors. In addition to processing the sensor signals, the iPhone
software also provides a GUI for the user to easily perform various functions, such as making
a phone call, sending a text message, playing a game, driving a PWC, and controlling home
appliances. With the new headset and iPhone GUI, TDS has become a truly wearable AT
without the burden of carrying a laptop. This should make its users lives easier because
they can not only use every iPhone function, but also interact with any device that is
compatible with the iPhone. TDS users can perform several tasks without switching to
different ATs.
FEATURES
1 Flexibility:
During the training session, the user is free to associate any specific tongue movement with
any one of the six commands defined in the system based on his or her preference, abilities,
and lifestyle. These tongue movements should be unique and far from other tongue
movements that are either associated with other TDS commands or are natural tongue
movements used during speaking, swallowing, coughing, sneezing, etc. Fortunately, most of
these voluntary or involuntary movements are back and forth movements in the sagittal
plane. Therefore, we advised the subjects to define their TDS commands by moving their
tongue from its resting position to the sides or by curling their tongue up or down,
movements that do not usually occur in other tongue activities. In the future, we intend to
add new commands that will put the TDS in Standby mode when the user intends to eat or
sleep. For reduced power consumption in the standby mode, the TDS sampling rate will be
reduced and the control unit will only look for the specific command that brings the system
back online.
2 Native Language :
Another expected observation from human trials was that the individuals performance
when using the TDS was independent of his native language. In fact, our six human subjects
had four different native languages, and we did not observe any correlation between their
native language and their performance. This result contrasts with those found with the
voice-activated or speech-recognitionbased ATs that are popular mainly among users who
speak English well.
ADVANTAGES OF TDS

DRAWBACKS OF TDS
Computer could go down
FUTURE SCOPE OF TDS

use in everyday purpose and to control the activities going on around without any
difficulties.
CONCLUSION
Tongue drive system technology is a gift for the physically challenged and disabled
persons to lead their life equal to the normal persons in the society. A tongue operated
magnetic sensor based wireless assistive technology has been developed for people with
severe disabilities to lead a self-supportive independent life enabling them to control their
environment using their tongue. This technology works by tracking movements of
permanent magnet, secured on the tongue, utilizing an array of linear Hall- effect sensors.
The sensor outputs are a function of the position-dependent magnetic field generated by
the permanent magnet. This allows a small array of sensors to capture a large number of
tongue movements. Thus, providing quicker, smoother, and more convenient proportional
control compared to many existing assistive technologies. Other advantages of the Tongue
Drive system are being unobtrusive, low cost, minimally invasive, flexible, and easy to
operate. A more advanced version with custom designed low-power electronics that
entirely fit within the mouthpiece is currently under development.