Patent Publication Number: US-2022215933-A1

Title: Remote emdr therapy device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/134,540 filed Jan. 6, 2021, entitled “REMOTE EMDR THERAPY DEVICE,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by this reference. 
    
    
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure relates to technologies for providing a remotely controlled Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (“EMDR”) therapy device. According to some embodiments, a remote EMDR device comprises a first handheld assembly and a second handheld assembly, each handheld assembly comprising one or more of a visual stimulation component and a tactile stimulation component. A microcontroller module is operably connected to the first and second handheld assemblies and configured to establish a connection to a computing device of the patient that can receive control instructions from a remote therapist over the Internet. The remote EMDR device may then administer bilateral stimulation to the patient through the one or more visual and tactile stimulation components of the first and second handheld assemblies in accordance with the received control instructions. 
     According to further embodiments, a method comprises connecting, by a computing device of a patient, to a cloud server hosting a therapist web application over one or more networks. The computing device further connects to a remote EMDR device in possession of the patient. The therapist web application receives control instructions for the remote EMDR device from a therapist and sends the control instructions to the computing device over the one or more networks. The computing device forwards the control instructions to the remote EMDR device, and the remote EMDR device administers bilateral stimulation to the patient through one or more visual and tactile stimulation components of the remote EMDR device based on the forwarded control instructions. 
     According to further embodiments, a remote EMDR therapy system comprises a remote EMDR device, a patient mobile device, and a cloud server. The cloud server is operably connected to the patient mobile device over one or more networks and hosts a therapist web application configured to receive control instructions for the remote EMDR device from a therapist via a therapist console, and send the control instructions to the patient mobile device over the one or more networks. The patient mobile device is operably connected to the remote EMDR device and is configured to forward the control instructions received from the cloud server to the remote EMDR device. The remote EMDR device comprises a microcontroller module, a first handheld assembly, and a second handheld assembly, each handheld assembly operably connected to the microcontroller module and comprising one or more visual and/or tactile stimulation components. The microcontroller module is configured to administer bilateral stimulation to the patient through the one or more visual and tactile stimulation component of the handheld assemblies based on the control instructions forwarded by the patient mobile device. 
     These and other features and aspects of the various embodiments will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description and reviewing the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following Detailed Description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and that show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments or examples. The drawings herein are not drawn to scale, and any measurements provided are shown to provide a relative size context and are not intended to be limiting. Like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an exemplary remote EMDR device and an associated patient mobile device, according to embodiments presented herein. 
         FIG. 2  is a system diagram showing the components of an exemplary remote EMDR therapy system, according to embodiments presented herein. 
         FIGS. 3A and 3B  are GUI diagrams showing exemplary user interfaces of a therapist web application as part of the remote EMDR therapy system, according to embodiments presented herein. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing an example system and software architecture for the remote EMDR device and other computing devices described herein. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing an exemplary routine for utilizing a remote EMDR therapy system to facilitate a remote EMDR therapy session, according to embodiments presented herein. 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart showing an exemplary routine for processing instructions from a cloud server to remotely control a remote EMDR device, according to embodiments presented herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description is directed to technologies for providing a remote EMDR therapy device to patients. Since the 1980&#39;s, EMDR and EMDR research has required either both the therapist and client to be in the same room or for the client to make repetitive motions to stimulate their brain bilaterally as a primary piece of the therapeutic intervention, due to hardware limitations. As technology has improved, over time we have seen the addition of software which will mimic this by lighting up the left and right borders of a computer screen, causing the brain to stimulate bilaterally, and allowing this work to happen remotely for telehealth. However, many users struggle with eye movements from the inception, hence many therapists continue to utilize audio and tactile stimulation in conjunction with visual cues in many EMDR therapeutic sessions. 
     Utilizing the technologies described herein, a remote EMDR device, also referred to herein as the “EMDR Hero,” may be implemented to empower therapists to engage in EMDR protocol style therapy with a patient with bilateral stimulation both in tactile and visual cues without requiring the therapist and patient to be in the same room. To allow EMDR and EMDR research to move forward during times of reduced availability of in-person therapy sessions, a device is provided that connects via, e.g., Bluetooth and an app, to the patient&#39;s mobile device, such as a mobile phone or tablet. By doing so, it allows a therapist anywhere with an Internet connection to supply bilateral stimulation from tactile (e.g., vibration) and visual (e.g., LED) cues. 
       FIG. 1  show an exemplary remote EMDR device  100  and an associated patient mobile device  110 , according to some embodiments. The remote EMDR device  100  comprises a desktop assembly  102  connected to two egg-shaped or bicycle grip-like handheld assemblies  104 A,  104 B (also referred to herein individually as left handheld assembly  104 A and right handheld assembly  104 B and collectively as handheld assemblies  104 ). According to embodiments, each handheld assembly  104 A,  104 B may include a visual stimulation component  106  for visual stimulation. In some embodiments, the visual stimulation component  106  may comprise one or more RGB LED modules, such as a series of WS2812 LED “pixels,” allowing full control of the color and intensity of the visual stimulation. Each handheld assembly  104 A,  104 B may further include a tactile stimulation component  108  for tactile stimulation, such as an integrated motor with counterweight, that when powered up will vibrate within the handheld assembly. 
     According to some embodiments, the handheld assemblies  104  may be identical to each other, or the left handheld assembly  104 A and right handheld assembly  104 B may be mirrors of each other, using the same form factor and components but shaped and/or configured for left-hand or right-hand use, respectively. The handheld assemblies  104  may be connected to the desktop assembly  102  through modular connectors and by varying lengths of wire, allowing the remote EMDR device  100  to be easily assembled by the end user (patient) and the handheld assemblies to be comfortably held at an effective distance apart by most any sized human. The modular connections also allow for easy modification of the remote EMDR device  100  to support the therapy for patients with a variety of physical disabilities. For example, the connection of each handheld assembly  104 A,  104 B to the desktop assembly  102  using telephone cable and standard RJ11 connectors. 
     The desktop assembly  102  contains the electrical circuitry and components supporting remote control of the visual stimulation components  106  and tactile stimulation components  108  of the handheld assemblies  104 . For example, in some embodiments the desktop assembly  102  may house a microcontroller and supporting circuitry allowing the remote EMDR device  100  to connect to the patient mobile device  110 , such as a mobile phone or tablet device, allowing the mobile device and/or a remote application under the control of a therapist to control the operation of the EMDR device. The desktop assembly  102  may further include a battery and charging components for powering the remote EMDR device  100 , as will be described below in more detail in regard to  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 2  shows an overview of a system  200  for providing remote EMDR therapy, according to some embodiments. According to embodiments, the system  200  includes a patient mobile device  110  of an end-user or “patient”  202  connected to a remote EMDR device  100 . In some embodiments, the patient mobile device  110  may represent a mobile phone or tablet device, such as an IPHONE® or IPAD® from Apple Inc. or an Android™ phone from Google LLC. In other embodiments, the patient mobile device  110  may represent a laptop computer, desktop computer, or any other computing device of the patient  202  capable of connecting to the remote EMDR device  100  and the network(s)  206 . The remote EMDR device  100  may be connected with the patient mobile device  110  using a wired or wireless connection. For example, in some embodiments the remote EMDR device  100  may be paired with the patient mobile device  110  using BLUETOOTH® technology. In other embodiments, the remote EMDR device  100  may be connected to the patient mobile device  110  using Wi-Fi® or by a cable. 
     The system  200  further includes a cloud server  210 . In some embodiments, the cloud server  210  may represent virtualized computing resources available in the cloud, such as Amazon EC2 Cloud Computing services. In further embodiments, the cloud server  210  may represent one or more of conventional web server, application server, and/or other application hosting environments executing on one more server computers. According to embodiments, the cloud server  210  may host a web application, also referred to herein as the “therapist web application.” A therapist  204  may utilize a web browsing device  208 , such as a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer executing a web browser application, to access the therapist web application executing on the cloud server  210 . The therapist  204  may then utilize the therapist web application to connect to and remotely control the remote EMDR device  100  of a patient  202  over one or more networks  206  via the cloud server  210  and the patient mobile device  110 . For example, the therapist web application may send instructions and/or request information to/from the patient mobile device  110  over the network(s)  206  utilizing the HTTP protocol, and the patient mobile device may forward the instructions/requests to the remote EMDR device  100  utilizing Bluetooth Characteristics and/or a serial interface over the Bluetooth connection. In further embodiments, the instructions/requests will be transmitted utilizing secure and encrypted protocols to protect any patient information. 
     The cloud server  210  may be further connected to a database  212  or other storage resources facilitating storage of patient records, remote EMDR therapy session logs, authorized remote EMDR devices for the therapist  204 , and the like. In further embodiments, the cloud server  210  may have access over the network(s)  206  to third party telehealth platform  220  to facilitate the exchange of patient information, therapy information, billing information, and the like, as authorized by the patient  202 . 
     According to embodiments, the patient  202  may utilize a mobile application or “app,” also referred to herein as the “EMDR Hero app,” on the patient mobile device  110  to connect to the remote EMDR device  100  and initiate a remote EMDR therapy session. In some embodiments, the patient  202  may download the app for free from the “app store” supporting the patient mobile device  110 . The app may further connect to the therapist web application on the cloud server  210  over the network(s)  206 . The patient  202  may then identify a particular therapist  204  for the administration of remote EMDR therapy, such as by inputting a unique ID of the therapist in the app, authorizing the therapist  204  to access the patient&#39;s individual remote EMDR device  100  connected to their patient mobile device  110 . 
     The therapist  204  may log into the therapist web application with a username and password and select the patient  202  from a list of all patients that have authorized access to their respected remote EMDR devices  100 . Upon selection of the patient  202 , the therapist may see a user interface showing a status of the patient&#39;s remote EMDR device  100  and allowing the therapist to remotely control the remote EMDR device  100  to facilitate the remote EMDR therapy session. For example,  FIGS. 3A and 3B  show example user interfaces  300 A and  300 B, alternatively referred to herein as “therapist console  300 ,” of the therapist web application allowing the therapist  204  to see status information  302 , such as connection status and battery charge level, of the patient&#39;s remote EMDR device  100 . The user interfaces  300 A,  300 B also contain user-interface control elements for controlling the remote EMDR device  100 , such as a control to start and stop EMDR bilateral stimulation, as shown at  304 , and controls to adjust a speed of oscillation of stimulation between the left and right handheld assemblies  104 A and  104 B, the intensity levels of the visual stimulation components  106  and tactile stimulation components  108  of the handheld assemblies, a color of the visual stimulation components  106 , and the like, as shown at  306 . 
     To facilitate a remote EMDR therapy session, the therapist  204  and patient  202  establish a voice and/or video call between them, as shown in  FIG. 2  at  214 . The voice/video call  214  may be facilitated by the therapist web application on the cloud server  210  and the EMDR Hero app on the patient mobile device  110 , or the call may utilize more conventional web and/or phone based methods of voice/video calls. During the remote EMDR therapy session, the therapist  204  will remotely control the EMDR device so that one handheld assembly  104  at a time will light up and vibrate before oscillating to the other handheld assembly. 
     According to some embodiments, when the remote EMDR device  100  is powered on, the device will attempt to link with the patient mobile device  110  with which it is paired. The remote EMDR device  100  will then attempt to confirm that the patient mobile device  110  is connected to the cloud server  210  over the network(s)  206 . The remote EMDR device  100  will then listen for device instructions from the therapist web application via the cloud server  210  and the patient mobile device  110 . Instructions received by the remote EMDR device  100  may include terminating the session, changing the visual stimulation components  106  color, changing the intensity levels of the visual and/or tactile stimulation components  106  and  108 , activating the visual bilateral stimulation, activating the tactile bilateral stimulation, and the like. In some embodiments, the remote EMDR device  100  will activate the visual stimulation component  106  and/or tactile stimulation component  108  of one handheld assembly  104 A for between 300 milliseconds and 3,000 milliseconds before turning off and activating the other handheld assembly  104 B. Before listening for additional instructions from the therapist web application, the remote EMDR device  100  may update the therapist web application on the cloud server  210  with the battery charge level, LED and vibration motor status, and the like. 
       FIG. 4  shows an example computing architecture  400  for implementation of the remote EMDR device  100  in the context of the remote EMDR therapy system  200 , according to embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the hardware architecture of the remote EMDR device  100  may utilize an integrated microcontroller module (also referred to herein as “MCU  402 ”), such as the ESP32-WROOM Wi-Fi/Bluetooth microcontroller module from Espressif Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. The microcontroller module may be housed in the desktop assembly  102  of the remote EMDR device  100 , for example. 
     The MCU  402  includes one or more processing core(s)  404 . The processor core(s)  404  may represent standard programmable microprocessors that perform arithmetic and logical operations necessary for the operation of the remote EMDR device  100 . The MCU  402  may further contain a data/control bus  406  that connects the processor core(s)  404  to the other integrated components of the microcontroller module. According to embodiments, the MCU  402  further includes a volatile memory  408 . The memory  408  may include a random access memory (“RAM”) used as the main memory in the MCU  402 , for example. The MCU  402  also includes a non-volatile memory, or NVM  410 , such as flash memory, a non-volatile RAM (“NVRAM”), a read-only memory (“ROM”), or some combination of these and other non-volatile memory components. The NVM  410  may store processor-executable instructions and data in a non-transitory fashion for the operation of the MCU  402  in accordance with the embodiments described herein. 
     For example, the NVM  410  may store device firmware  412  containing basic routines that that help to startup the MCU  402  and transfer information between the various components and devices. The NVM  410  may also store other software components necessary for the operation of the remote EMDR device  100 , according to embodiments. For example, the NVM  410  may store an EMDR operational program  414 , also referred to as a “sketch,” that provides the functionality of the remote EMDR device  100  as part of the operation of the remote EMDR therapy system  200 , as described herein. In other embodiments, the NVM  410  may be encoded with processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the MCU  402 , perform the operations ascribed to the remote EMDR device  100  in the routines  500  and  600  described below in regard to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     In some embodiments, the MCU  402  may further contain a Bluetooth module  416  that provides for Bluetooth pairing and communication between the remote EMDR device  100  and the patient mobile device  110  as described herein. In further embodiments, the MCU  402  may alternatively or additionally contain a Wi-Fi module  418 , that facilitates connection over the network(s)  206  to the patient mobile device  110  and/or directly to the cloud server  210 . In further embodiments, the MCU  402  may contain alternative or additional communication modules that facilitate connection of the remote EMDR device  100  to the patient mobile device  110  and/or cloud server either directly or through the network(s)  206 , such as an Ethernet module, an LTE cellular module, a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) interface module, a Serial Peripheral Interface (“SPI”) module, and the like. It will be appreciated that the network(s)  206  shown and described herein represent any networked environment that connect the remote EMDR device  100 , the patient mobile device  110 , the cloud server  210 , and other remote computing devices and resources through one or more networks, such as a Wi-Fi network, a LAN, a WAN, a cellular data network, the Internet or “cloud,” or any other networking topology known in the art that connects computing devices together. as a gigabit Ethernet adapter, a Wi-Fi adapter, or an LTE data adapter. 
     According to further embodiments, the MCU  402  includes a GPIO controller  420  that facilitates connection of the microcontroller module to the handheld assemblies  104 . For example, the MCU  402  may utilize pulse-width modulation over an assigned GPIO output to control operation and intensity of the tactile stimulation component  108 , e.g., the vibration motors, in each of the left handheld assembly  104 A and right handheld assembly  104 B. Similarly, the MCU  402  may communicate with the visual stimulation components  106  of the handheld assemblies  104  utilizing a digital data output of the GPIO to control the color and intensity of the visual stimulation. It will be appreciated that the remote EMDR device  100  may contain additional circuitry and components, such as capacitors, resistors, transistors, and the like, that facilitate electrical interfacing of the GPIO controller  420  of the MCU  402  to the visual stimulation components  106  and tactical stimulation components  108  of the handheld assemblies  104 . 
     In further embodiments, the remote EMDR device  100  may include a battery  422  housed in the desktop assembly  102 . For example, the battery  422  may be a 3.7V Li-Ion battery module. In addition, the desktop assembly  102  may further house a battery charging module  424  to charge the battery  422  from an external power source. In some embodiments, the MCU  402  may utilize the GPIO controller  420  to read a charge level from the battery charging module  424  or directly from the battery  422  for reporting the current charge level to the therapist web application. In other embodiments the current charge level of the battery  422  may be determined from a voltage supplied to the MCU  402  by the battery  422 . 
     Similarly to the NVM  410  of the MCU  402 , the patient mobile device  110  and the cloud server  210  may be connected to computer-readable storage media storing application programs and data utilized in the remote EMDR therapy system  200 . For example, the patient mobile device  110  may have access to computer-readable storage media storing the EMDR Hero app  430  utilized by the patient  202  to connect the remote EMDR device  100  to the cloud server  210  and initiate a remote EMDR therapy session, as described herein. The cloud server  210  may further have access to computer-readable storage media storing the therapist web application  440  utilized by the therapist  204  to remotely control the remote EMDR device  100 . Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, hard disk drives, solid-state (Flash) drives, optical disk drives, magneto-optical disc drives, magnetic tape drives, memory cards, holographic memory, or any other computer-readable media known in the art that provides non-transitory storage of digital data and software. According to further embodiments, the computer-readable storage media may be encoded with processor-executable instructions that, when executed by processing resources of the patient mobile device  110  or cloud server  210 , perform the operations ascribed to the patient mobile device and cloud server in the routines  500  and  600  described below in regard to  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     It will be appreciated that the computing architecture  400  may not include all of the components shown in  FIG. 4 , may include other components that are not explicitly shown in  FIG. 4 , or may utilize an architecture completely different than that shown in  FIG. 4 . For example, any of the processor core(s)  404 , memory  408 , NVM  410 , Bluetooth module  416 , Wi-Fi module  418 , and GPIO controller  420  may represent separate components electrically connected together on one or more circuit boards or daughter boards. It is intended that all such computing architectures for the remote EMDR device  100  be included within the scope of this application. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates one routine  500  for utilizing the remote EMDR therapy system  200  to facilitate a remote EMDR therapy session, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, parts of the routine  500  may be performed by the remote EMDR device  100 , while other parts may be performed by the EMDR Hero app  430  executing on the patient mobile device  110  and by the therapist web application  440  executing on the cloud server  210 , as shown in the figure. In other embodiments, the routine  500  may be performed by some combination of the remote EMDR device  100 , the patient mobile device  110 , the cloud server  210 , and/or other computing devices, components, and modules of the remote EMDR therapy system  200 . According to some embodiments, the routine  500  may be initiated by a patient  202  activating the EMDR Hero app  430  on the on their patient mobile device  110  to establish a remote EMDR therapy session, for example. 
     The routine  500  begins at step  502 , where the EMDR Hero app  430  is launched by the patient  202  on the patient mobile device  110  and a connection with the cloud server  210  over the network(s)  206  is established. For example, the EMDR Hero app  430  may request a connection to the therapist web application  440  executing on the cloud server  210  over the Internet utilizing a secure HTTPS connection. The therapist web application  440  receives the request and establishes the connection, as shown at  504 . From step  504 , the routine  500  proceeds to steps  506 , where the remote EMDR device  100  is powered on and establishes a connection with the patient mobile device  110 . According to some embodiments, when the remote EMDR device  100  is powered on, it initializes the state of the device and then attempts to establish a Bluetooth connection with the patient mobile device  110  with which it is paired. The remote EMDR device  100  may then wait for confirmation that the patient mobile device  110  is connected and that the EMDR Hero app  430  is running on the mobile device and is connected to the cloud server  210 . 
     As shown at step  510 , once the remote EMDR device  100  is connected to the patient mobile device  110 , the EMDR device sends its initial state telemetry to the mobile device. The initial state telemetry may include, for example, the current charge level of the battery  422 . The initial state telemetry from the remote EMDR device  100  is then forwarded by the EMDR Hero app  430  to the cloud server  210 , as further shown at  512 . According to some embodiments, the initial state telemetry may be sent from the remote EMDR device  100  to the EMDR Hero app  430  using the Bluetooth connection, with the app forwarding the initial state telemetry to the cloud server  210  over the network(s)  206  using the HTTPS protocol. Once the remote EMDR device  100  has sent the initial state telemetry to the cloud server  210  via the patient mobile device  110 , the device waits for instructions to be received from the cloud server  210  for operation. According to some embodiments, the remote EMDR device  100  may continue to periodically send updated state telemetry data to the cloud server  210  via the EMDR Hero app  430 . 
     Meanwhile, as shown at step  514 , a therapist  204  may have made a selection of the patient  202  for the remote EMDR therapy selection in the therapist web application  440  executing on the cloud server  210 . From step  514 , the routine  500  proceeds to step  516 , where the therapist console  300  is initialized for the remote EMDR device  100  of the selected patient  202 . Once the initial state telemetry data has been received from the patient mobile device  110  for the remote EMDR device  100 , the therapist console  300  may be updated with the initial state of the device, such as the connection status and current charge level of the battery. The therapist web application  440  then waits for input from the therapist console  300  by the therapist  204 . For example, the therapist  204  may issue remote control instructions to the remote EMDR device  100 , such as toggling on or off the bilateral stimulation function, or adjusting the oscillation speed, the tactile stimulation intensity, the visual stimulation intensity, the color of the visual stimulation, or the like. 
     At step  518 , if no input is received from the therapist console  300 , the therapist web application  440  continues to wait for input from the therapist  204 . If input is received from the therapist console  300 , then the routine  500  proceeds to step  520 , where the therapist web application  440  formats and sends one or more instructions to the patient mobile device  110  for the remote EMDR device  100  based on the input received from the therapist  204 . The instructions may be sent to the patient mobile device  110  utilizing the HTTPS protocol. The EMDR Hero app  430  executing on the patient mobile device  110  receives the instruction(s) and forwards the instruction(s) to the remote EMDR device  100  over the Bluetooth connection, as further shown at step  522 . 
     As shown at step  524 , if an instruction is received by the remote EMDR device from the cloud server  210  via the patient mobile device  110 , the routine  500  proceeds to step  526 , where the remote EMDR device  100  processes the instruction. An example routine for processing remote instructions from the cloud server  210  is described below in regard to  FIG. 6 . According to some embodiments, after the instruction(s) from the cloud server  210  are processed in step  526 , the routine  500  may proceed to step  528  where the remote EMDR device  100  updates its state telemetry data with, e.g., the current charge level of the battery  422 , and send the current state telemetry data to the cloud server  210  via the patient mobile device  110 , as shown at step  530 . When the cloud server  210  receives update state telemetry data from the remote EMDR device  100 , it may update the therapist console  300  with the current device state, as shown at step  532 , before returning to waiting for input from the therapist console and sending new instructions. Similarly, after sending the current state telemetry to the cloud server  210  via the patient mobile device  110 , the remote EMDR device  100  may return to waiting for further instructions from the cloud server. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates one routine  600  for processing instructions from the cloud server  210  to remotely control the remote EMDR device  100 , as described above in regard to step  526 . According to some embodiments, the routine  600  may be performed by the EMDR operation program  414  executing on the remote EMDR device  100  upon receiving the forwarded instruction(s) from the patient mobile device  110 . In other embodiments, processing of remote control instructions may be performed by some combination of the EMDR Hero app  430  executing on the patient mobile device  110  and the EMDR operation program  414  executing on the remote EMDR device  100 . For example, the EMDR Hero app  430  may receive the commands from the cloud server  210  via the HTTPS connection and make adjustments to Bluetooth Characteristics defined by the remote EMDR device  100  for the Bluetooth connection corresponding to the internal state of the device and components. The routine  600  begins at step  602 , where it is determined whether the instruction(s) received from the cloud server  210  include an instruction to terminate the remote EMDR therapy session. If a terminate session instruction was received, the routine  600  proceeds to step  604 , where the remote EMDR device  100  turns off the visual stimulation components  106  and tactile stimulation components  108  of the handheld assemblies  104 . The remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  may further terminate the Bluetooth connection between the device and the patient mobile device  110 . From step  604 , the routine  600  ends. 
     If the received instruction(s) do not include a terminate session instruction, then the routine  600  proceeds to step  606 , where it is determined whether the instruction(s) received from the cloud server  210  include an instruction to adjust the color of one or more visual stimulation components  106  of the handheld assemblies  104 . According to some embodiments, the adjust color instruction may specify a new color for the visual stimulation components  106  of both handheld assemblies  104 , just the visual stimulation component of the left handheld assembly  104 A, or just the visual stimulation component of the right handheld assembly  104 B. If an adjust the color instruction was received, the routine  600  proceeds to step  608 , where the remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  updates the color configuration of the indicated visual stimulation components. This may be accomplished for example by writing an RGB color value to a color setting for each visual stimulation component. 
     Next, the routine  600  proceeds to step  610 , where it is determined whether the instruction(s) received from the cloud server  210  include an instruction to activate or deactivate the visual stimulation in one or more of the handheld assemblies  104 . For example, instructions may be sent alternatingly to activate the visual stimulation in the left handheld assembly  104 A and then the visual stimulation in the right handheld assembly  104 B based on the specified oscillation speed in the therapist console  300  to affect the bilateral stimulation. If an activate/deactivate visual stimulation instruction was received, the routine  600  proceeds to step  612 , where the remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  turns on or off the visual stimulation component  106  of the indicated handheld assembly(s)  104 . This may be accomplished for example by writing an intensity value (e.g., “0” for off and “149” for on) to an intensity (e.g., brightness) setting for each visual stimulation component  106 . In some embodiments, the instruction to activate or deactivate the visual stimulation may include a value for the intensity of the visual stimulation, or the command may simply specify that the visual stimulation should be turned on or off, with the remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  using a prior, preset intensity value for the visual stimulation component(s)  106 . 
     Next, the routine  600  proceeds to step  614 , where it is determined whether the instruction(s) received from the cloud server  210  include an instruction to activate or deactivate the tactile stimulation in one or more of the handheld assemblies  104 . As described above for the visual stimulation, instructions may be sent alternatingly to activate the tactile stimulation in the left handheld assembly  104 A and then the tactile stimulation in the right handheld assembly  104 B based on the specified oscillation speed in the therapist console  300  to effect the bilateral stimulation. If an activate/deactivate tactile stimulation instruction was received, the routine  600  proceeds to step  616 , where the remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  turns on or off the tactile stimulation component  108  of the indicated handheld assembly(s)  104 . This may be accomplished for example by writing an intensity value (e.g., “0” for off and “121” for on) to an intensity (e.g., voltage) setting for each tactile stimulation component  108 . Just as above, the instruction to activate or deactivate the tactile stimulation may include a value for the intensity of the tactile stimulation, or the command may simply specify that the tactile stimulation should be turned on or off, with the remote EMDR device  100  and/or EMDR Hero app  430  using a prior, preset intensity value for the tactile stimulation component  108 . From step  616 , the routine  600  ends. 
     Based on the foregoing, it will be appreciated that technologies for providing a remote EMDR therapy device are presented herein. While embodiments are generally described herein in regard to specific hardware and software components, it will be appreciated that the embodiments described in this disclosure may be implemented using any hardware or software components known in the art that implement the same described features/elements and accomplish the same described functions. This may include other single-board computers with or without additional add-on daughter boards using open architectures, a custom-built proprietary hardware circuit, and/or any combination of these and other hardware circuits. It may also include open source application packages and modules available as standard packages in an OS/FW distribution, additional open source application packages and modules added to the standard distribution, custom software modules and services coded in any language, and/or any combination of these and other software application modules. The above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations, set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. 
     Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individual aspects or combinations and sub-combinations of elements or steps are intended to be supported by the present disclosure. The logical steps, functions or operations described herein as part of a routine, method or process may be implemented ( 1 ) as a sequence of processor-implemented acts, software modules or portions of code running on a microcontroller, computing device, or other computer system and/or ( 2 ) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the microcontroller, computing device, or other computer system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the system. Alternate implementations are included in which steps, operations or functions may not be included or executed at all, may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure. 
     It will be further appreciated that conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more particular embodiments or that one or more particular embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.