A variety of operation devices have been developed for severely disabled people such as those with cervical cord injuries and/or muscular dystrophies. Each device has its own merits and demerits respectively, but there is still a need to develop other types of operation devices. In this study, we have tried to develop a mouthpiece type remote controller to operate an electric powered wheelchair. This remote controller would be inserted into user's mouth and be operated by tongue. This remote controller has passive RFID transponders but no battery. To evaluate the performance of this system, the MCR (Maximum Communication Range) was measured. The results indicated that if users set the antenna beside their cheek, the remote controller would work well. For the preliminary study, the operativeness of this remote controller was suitable. With this system, we succeeded in an operating electric powered wheelchair on the market. These results suggested the possibility that this mouthpiece type remote controller system would be effective for severely disabled people.

We have tried to develop a mouthpiece type remote controller for severely disabled people such as those with cervical cord injuries and/or muscular dystrophies. This remote controller would be inserted into the user's mouth and be operated by tongue movement. Tongue movement is one of the voluntary functions that usually retains its function, even in the case of cervical cord injury. The specification of the mouthpiece type remote controller is explained. The performance and operativeness are evaluated in this paper. We developed a 4 channel remote controller to operate a powered wheelchair; forward, right, left and backward. This controller has four passive RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) transponders. Each transponder generates electric power by itself, so it can work without a battery. The MCR (Maximum Communication Range [mm]) was evaluated in three conditions of atmosphere, water and meat. The MCR was 110mm or more in every condition. In the case of the remote controller being inserted into the participant's mouth, the performance of the MCR satisfies the design specification. With this system, we succeeded in operating an electric powered wheelchair on the market.

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