News : Tongue device to aid disabled

A new device that uses a tiny magnet can help disabled people steer a wheelchair or operate a computer using only the tip of the tongue.

The magnet, the size of a grain of rice, lets people direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.

It is easily implanted under the tongue, the team at the Georgia Institute of Technology said.

A headset with magnetic field sensors detects the magnetic tracer on the tongue and transmits wireless signals to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user's clothing or wheelchair.

The team reported on their device to a meeting of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America in Washington.