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Experiment lets the paralyzed drive wheelchair, work a computer with flick of a pierced tongue

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This undated handout photo provided by the Shepherd Center shows Jason DiSanto navigating an obstacle course in an electric-powered wheelchair by issuing commands with a magnetic tongue piercing. The 50-meter-long course, at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga., included 13 turns and 24 obstacles, requiring tongue drive users to make U-turns, move in reverse and negotiate a loop. (AP Photo/Georgia Tech, Gary Meek)

WASHINGTON – An experimental device is letting paralyzed people drive wheelchairs simply by flicking their tongue in the right direction. But they had to get their tongue pierced first.

The system is being developed by a Georgia Tech engineer, in hopes of offering the severely disabled more mobility and independence. Wednesday, researchers reported that 11 people paralyzed from the neck down rapidly learned to use the Tongue Drive System to pilot wheelchairs through an obstacle course. And the device operated a computer, too.

Here’s how the system works: The tongue is pierced with a magnetic stud that resembles jewelry. A headset detects the tongue’s position when the user flicks that stud. The headset beams that information to a smartphone. An app then commands the wheelchair or computer cursor to move.

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