Development and Translational Assesment of a Tongue-Based Assistive Neuro-Technol

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DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Research Area: Developing and validating assistive neuro-technologies: 06-NS-104 Abstract/summary: Development and Translational Assessment of a Tongue-Based Assistive Neuro-Technology (ANT) for Individuals with Severe Neurological Disorders More than two million Americans suffer from paralysis as a result of accidents, acts of violence, and neurological diseases. For instance, 11,000 cases of severe spinal cord injury (SCI) add every year to a population of a quarter of a million. Sadly, 55% of the SCI victims are between 16 and 30 years old, who will need lifelong special care services that currently cost about $4 billion each year. About half of these individuals are tetraplegics, who find it extremely difficult to carry out everyday tasks without continuous help. Assistive Neuro-Technologies (ANT) help these individuals communicate their intentions and effectively control their environments, easing the need for receiving continuous help, thus reducing the burden on family members, and lowering healthcare and assisted-living costs. A new ANT, called the Tongue Drive System (TDS), enables individuals with severe disability access their environment with nothing but their tongue motion. The human tongue is inherently capable of sophisticated control and manipulation tasks with many degrees of freedom. It can move rapidly and accurately within the mouth such that the tip can touch every single tooth. The direct connection between the brain and the tongue generally allows it to escape damage even in severe SCIs. Unlike the brain, the tongue is accessible, and its location inside the mouth affords a degree of privacy. TDS consists of a magnetic tracer, the size of a lentil, attached to the tongue by gluing, implantation, or piercing. The tracer generates a magnetic field inside and around the mouth that is detected by an array of magnetic sensors mounted on a wireless headset. Tongue-movement-induced changes in the magnetic field are sent wirelessly to an ultra-mobile computer or smartphone, carried by the user, which processes and translates every tongue motion to a particular user-defined function. Once an individual with disability is "enabled" to access a computing device, he/she can nearly do everything that an able-bodied individual can do with that device. This includes communicating, education, training, entertainment, and controlling other devices such as powered wheelchairs (PWC), assistive robotic manipulators, and other home/office appliances on a local area network (LAN). Even the individual's own natural or prosthetic limbs can be manipulated to move by functional electrical stimulation (FES). This project is intended to refine and enhance the TDS technology, including its evaluation by the ultimate intended users, individuals with severe disabilities, who are the best experts for indicating the benefits and possible shortcomings of any new ANT. It also explores speech-based tongue movements as an intuitive way of acquiring skills in using this novel ANT. These efforts should help make the Tongue Drive System viable for more general use. Research Area: Developing and validating assistive neuro-technologies: 06-NS-104 Health Relevance: Development and Translational Assessment of a Tongue-Based Assistive Neuro- Technology (ANT) for Individuals with Severe Neurological Disorders Tongue Drive System (TDS) is an assistive neuro-technology, which allows completely paralyzed users utilize their tongue motion to access computers and control wheelchairs. We further develop TDS and evaluate it by individuals with severe disabilities.