Value added - USG serves Georgia [Oct. 2008]

VALUE ADDED: USG Serves Georgia

October 2008

Tech Researcher's New Tongue-Driven System Set to Aid Severely Disabled

Anew assistive technology developed by engineers at Georgia Tech could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives.

The novel system allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues.

A small magnet, the size of a grain of rice, attached to an individual's tongue by implantation, piercing or tissue adhesive allows tongue motion to direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.
"This device could revolutionize the field of assistive technologies by helping individuals with severe disabilities, such as those with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives," said

Georgia Tech graduate student Xueliang Huo, who worked with Assistant Professor Maysam Ghovanloo to develop the Tongue Drive system, controls a wheelchair with a magnet attached to his tongue.
Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort."

See "TONGUE DRIVE," p. 2...

UGA Cooperative Extension Program Gets Georgians Moving Online, in Real Life

Approximately 3,000 Georgians exercised their way across the state this past spring. They logged nearly 551,000 miles in the debut Walk Georgia program, which challenged state residents to engage in physical activity and log their progress.
The fall program is now under way and will run through Nov. 1.
Sponsored by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and its partners, the

goal of the eight-week program is to increase physical activity in a way that involves the whole community. Participants formed teams with friends, families and co-workers and challenged each other to get fit.
Charting a virtual course through the Georgia mountains or down to the coast, participants traveled across Georgia by logging their activity online at www.walkgeorgia.org.
See "WALK GEORGIA," p. 2...

VALUE ADDED USG Serves Georgia

MCG Program Targets AsthmaProvoking School Bus Fumes
When the bell rings signaling the end of the school day, big yellow buses await students with their engines running, churning out dangerous diesel exhaust particles.
Inhaling diesel exhaust can worsen or cause asthma, the most common childhood chronic lung disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical College of Georgia researchers in Augusta are working to reduce that risk in Richmond County through Clean My R.I.D.E. A Coalition to Reduce Inhalation of Diesel Exhaust.
"We'll assess the particulate exposure at schools, educate parents, teachers and bus drivers about the associated dangers and current idling policies and ultimately help develop a plan to decrease exposure to diesel exhaust," says Kitty Hernlen, assistant professor in the School of Allied Health Sciences' Department of Respiratory Therapy and principal investigator of the $6,400 East Central Health District grant funding the program.

Senior Jennifer Elliott, in foreground at right, uses an airborne particle counter during the MCG Department of Respiratory Therapy's Clean My R.I.D.E. study. Also pictured are, from left, Kitty Hernlen, assistant professor; senior Emily Duncan; and Dr. Randy Baker, department chair.
The research team is observing bus configurations, counting idling vehicles and counting airborne particles in the transportation pick-up areas of five schools.
"Every day, kids are walking through a diesel cloud to buses that are filling with diesel fumes and particulates," says Dr. Randy Baker, coprincipal investigator and chair of the respiratory therapy department. Q

WALK GEORGIA Continued from P. 1
"Friends and family challenged each other and used the program as an anchor," said Sidney Law, agricultural and natural resources agent and county coordinator for Washington County. "People who joined a team with their co-workers

made it a group event and really increased their bond and morale."
In addition to walking, a variety of other activities, such as aerobics, biking, bowling and gardening, can be logged as well. The time spent exercising is translated into miles online as members move around the state virtually. Q

TONGUE DRIVE Continued from P. 1
Ghovanloo developed the Tongue Drive system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.
"We 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," said Ghovanloo.

He is teaming with the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta-based catastrophic-care hospital, and the Georgia Tech Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access, to conduct usability trials with people who have severe disabilities.
An article about the tongue-operated assistive technology is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development. Q