Dispositivo para emulação de mouse dedicado a pacientes tetraplégicos ou portadores de doença degenerativa do sistema neuromuscular

Abstract

This work describes the development of a pointing data entry device that emulates a MicrosoftÒ serial mouse. The device is aimed to individuals with a spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosys (A.L.S.), a degenerative disease of the neuromuscular system. This equipment allows individuals without hand movements to acess some computing resources such as reading, writing, surfing on the web, etc. The user’s head tilt, measured by a dual axis accelerometer, is responsible for the cursor movements on the computer screen. The click and double-click are produced by the voluntary movement of the user’s forehead muscle, which are acquired using electromyographic techniques. An eight bit microcontroller is used for the digital processing and interface to the computer via a RS232 port.