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A multiple camera tongue switch for a child with severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy
1Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Purpose:
The present study proposed a video-based access technology that facilitated a non-contact tongue protrusion access modality for a 7-year-old boy with severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (GMFCS level 5). The proposed system featured a centre camera and two peripheral cameras to extend coverage of the frontal face view of this user for longer durations.
Method:
The child participated in a descriptive case study. The participant underwent 3 months of tongue protrusion training while the multiple camera tongue switch prototype was being prepared. Later, the participant was brought back for five experiment sessions where he worked on a single-switch picture matching activity, using the multiple camera tongue switch prototype in a controlled environment.
Results:
The multiple camera tongue switch achieved an average sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 80%. In three of the experiment sessions, the peripheral cameras were associated with most of the true positive switch activations. These activations would have been missed by a centre-camera-only setup.
Conclusions:
The study demonstrated proof-of-concept of a non-contact tongue access modality implemented by a video-based system involving three cameras and colour video processing.
