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Technologies for vision impairment
Published in John Ravenscroft, The Routledge Handbook of Visual Impairment, 2019
Lauren N. Ayton, Penelope J. Allen, Carla J. Abbott, Matthew A. Petoe
The BrainPort 1000 device (Wicab Inc., WI, USA), consists of a glasses-mounted camera, which converts visual images to electrical signals that stimulate a 400-electro-tactile array placed on the tongue (Nau, Pintar et al., 2015). The electrodes are made from stainless steel, and are spaced 558 µm apart from edge to edge (Grant et al., 2016). When activated, the electrodes stimulate touch receptors on the tongue, which is felt as vibrations or “tingling sensations akin to champagne bubbles” (Grant et al., 2016). There is a one-to-one spatial correspondence between the pixels in the image and the stimulated electrodes, and luminance is translated into the intensity of stimulation.
Exploration of a novel physical therapy protocol that uses a sensory substitution device to improve the standing postural balance of children with balance disorders
Published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 2022
Swati M. Surkar, Regina Harbourne, Brad Corr, David Arpin, Max J.Kurz
The BrainPort has two main components: (1) a controller and (2) an intraoral device (IOD) (Figure 1). The controller consists of 32-bit 120 MHz microprocessor stimulation circuit, user controls, and rechargeable battery power supply. The intraoral device is made up of a “Tongue Display Unit” (TDU), which consists of a 100-point electrotactile array, a tether, and a micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer. The MEMS accelerometer is mounted to the back of a TDU and provides information about body’s orientation in both the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions. The IOD is positioned on the anterior portion of the tongue and is held against the roof of the mouth. The MEMS accelerometer senses the body position and a tether transmits body-position information to a controller worn around the child’s neck. A controller instantaneously converts body orientation information from the IOD’s accelerometer into a dynamic pattern of electrotactile stimulation in the direction of movement. The child continuously felt the position of activated electrodes, which corresponded to the child’s head orientation. The primary instruction to the child was to keep the electrotactile stimulation at the center of the tongue, which matched an upright and stable body orientation.