RE:Brainport Balance versus PoNS - patent protection?Brainport is selling for $6,750 in Canada.
The device has build-in neurofeedback system that provides the internal sensation of "center".
The device does not stimulate the brain, but helps the patient receive feedback (on the tongue) related to the position of the head, at which point the patient would try to correct his posture/balance to feel the tickling on the center of the tongue.
Has nothing to do with the PoNS really, especially the patents, besides the tongue impulses.
How does the BrainPort Balance Plus system work?
The BrainPort Balance Plus provides the user immediate biofeedback regarding head and body
position when performing balance training exercises. When performing these exercises with
your eyes closed you receive instant cueing when moving out of an upright head position.
This feedback is achieved via gentle electro-tactile impulses on your tongue. A small array is
placed on your tongue and when your head is centered you will feel gentle impulses in the
middle of the array. Impulses outside of the center of the array mean you are swaying in that
direction.
https://www.lifemark.ca/document/brainport_balance_plus_device_info_all_in_one.pdf miningfundi wrote: https://www.lifemark.ca/document/brainport_balance_plus_device_info_all_in_one.pdf
As a layman, I am astonished by the similarity of the Brainport Balance device to the PoNS device, and what seems to be their identical application! I had understood that there was nothing like the PoNS on the market, and that Helius's patents were comprehensive and bullet proof.
Are there any technically qualifed posters out there (Prokofiev?) who can add to this - it looks very shocking and disturbing to me?