Dad’s brain injury leads to daughter’s brain-rehab startup
After her father suffered a brain injury, Israeli neuroscientist Son Preminger noted deficiencies in the rehabilitation process and felt a calling to correct them.
Preminger invited a group of fellow neuroscientists, clinicians and engineers to join her in founding Intendu, a startup that has developed cloud-based software comprised of motion-based adaptive video games for brain training and rehabilitation. It runs on a 3D camera console that connects via cable to a TV or computer screen.
Intendu is unique among brain-training game software, she explains, in that it adapts in real time to the cognitive and physical abilities of each user; challenges the user to accomplish virtual tasks from real life, such as serving food or driving; and incorporates physical movement to activate the whole neural network, which in turn enhances cognition and brain plasticity.
Founded in 2012 and incubated in 2014 at the Microsoft accelerator in Tel Aviv, Intendu launched in October 2015 and now is used by about 30 rehabilitation centers in Israel and the United States, with more to come.
However, Preminger’s main focus is the home version of the product, currently available for sale by contacting Intendu’s clinical team through the website. The home version gives patients the opportunity to continue and supplement brain-training therapy on their own.
“It’s great that Intendu is being used in rehab centers but it was my main goal to have it in the home,” she tells ISRAEL21c. “That’s really why I created Intendu.”
Read More: Israel 21C