A new controller that works using head and tongue movements is one of the only options for patients with paralysis to not only control their own power wheelchairs but to use smartphones and computers.
Georgia Tech unveiled the results of a study that showed how their engineers were able to transform research prototypes into a user-ready version that was tested by 17 power wheelchair users living with tetraplegia—a spinal cord injury that affects the arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs.
They described it as a first-of-its-kind, innovative application for individuals living with disabilities.
Collaborating with physicians and clinical therapists at Brooks Rehabilitation, the team was able to show how useful and easy the MagTrack technology worked for patients.
“To see where the MagTrack project has advanced even just since the early stages of this study is incredible,” said Geneva Tonuzi, medical director of the spinal cord injury program at Brooks Rehabilitation.
Collaborating with physicians and clinical therapists at Brooks Rehabilitation, the team was able to show how useful and easy the MagTrack technology worked for patients.
“To see where the MagTrack project has advanced even just since the early stages of this study is incredible,” said Geneva Tonuzi, medical director of the spinal cord injury program at Brooks Rehabilitation.
In the coming year, the team plans to make MagTrack available to early adopters for at-home validation testing, to further improve the technology.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/head-tongue-controller-lets-paralyzed-patients-operate-phones/
