A concern about using Tongue Tongue Drive System Power wheelchair is that individuals should avoid inserting ferromojnetic objects in their mouth. For instance, they should not use stainless steel utensils.

According to Maysam Ghovanloo, assistant professor at Georgia Tech and head of the Tongue Drive System project, “One of the major advantages of the tongue is that it’s directly connected to the brain. The tongue is unlike the rest of the body, which is connected to the brain through the spinal cord. A patient who has even the highest level of spinal cord injury can still move his or her tongue like me or you.”

CNN has a video of Cruise Bogle who participated in a clincal trail of the Tongue Drive System at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/25/hm.wheelchair.tongue/index.html

The primary group of users who could benefit from this system are individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries because they still have full control over tongue motions.

The engineers at Georgia Institute of Techonology have developed a wireless, noncontact, tongue-operated assistive technology called the Tongue Drive System (TDS). The TDS provides people with minimal or no movement ability in their upper limbs with a way to control a powered wheelchair.