About Us

Mission & Values

Create simple, effective, affordable, and empowering vestibular technologies to help improve the lives of those suffering from vestibular disorders.

Leadership

Learn more about Co-Founders Dr. Helena Esmonde and Patrick Esmonde.

History

When Helena Esmonde transitioned from a large hospital-based outpatient vestibular clinic to a small, privately owned clinic…

Patents

These efforts have been recognized through the US and international patent offices with our inventions.

Create simple, effective, affordable, and empowering vestibular technologies to help improve the lives of those suffering from vestibular disorders

Values

Goggles for the People

Keep the price as affordable as possible for any type of trained researcher, healthcare provider, or academic setting

Keep it Simple

Portable and compatible design that allows for use with basic computers, standard operating systems, and open-source software

Educate and Promote

Connect healthcare researchers, therapists, and educators to maximize accessibility and dissemination of vestibular knowledge

Sustainable & Focused Growth

Grow organically to keep a focus on delivering products aligned with our core values

Be Creative

Find innovative solutions to enhance product features with the support of trusted stakeholders in research, business, technology, and healthcare

Leadership

Dr. Helena Esmonde, PT, DPT, NCS

CO-FOUNDER

Helena specializes in treating patients with neurologic, balance, and vestibular (inner ear balance system) conditions. She received her psychology undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and graduated Cum Laude from Marquette University’s Doctoral Physical Therapy program in 2005. She worked at an acute care hospital for 8 years and developed the vestibular program there to help address the needs of dizzy patients, unfortunately without access to infrared video goggles but luckily with quality continuing education courses and mentorship. When she transitioned to the outpatient setting in 2014, she gained access to infrared video goggles and found that they vastly improved her ability to accurately diagnose and treat vestibular conditions, particularly for more complex patients, such as those with concurrent post-concussive syndrome and BPPV. Helena became Vestibular Competencied at Emory University in 2015, certified to treat Cervicogenic Dizziness in 2016, and assisted teaching the lab portion of an Advanced Concussion course for North American Seminars in 2017. In 2018, Helena completed the clinical practice requirements and examination to attain the certification as a Neurologic Clinical Specialist (NCS). Dedicated to student education, she has served as a teaching assistant at Temple, Jefferson, Neumann, and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and earned an advanced clinical instructor certification. Helena has also presented at organizational and area Vestibular Special Interest Groups, Balance Center rounds at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Penn Medicine Mind Your Brain Conference. As an avid runner herself, Helena enjoys volunteering at local races to support her community.

Patrick Esmonde, MSE

$Patrick Esmonde has a bachelor\'s degree in Business and Management Information Systems from Drexel University and a Masters in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania, a degree co-sponsored by The Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). He has served in several Information Systems leadership roles in Higher Education for the past 10 years. Throughout his professional career, he has maintained his own successful IT consulting business, which he established in 2000. As a strong educator, he has served as adjunct assistant professor for Villanova’s School of Business, teaching IT strategy, analytics, and data visualization to undergraduate and MBA students. Ever the innovator, Patrick has spearheaded major data visualization projects as a consultant for a billion dollar company and frequently speaks as an expert at technology and education conferences. He is always ready to take on a problem and discover creative solutions, particularly in the spirit of optimization and helping others through technology. Having minored in Spanish during his undergraduate education, Patrick is still fluent and loves to converse with other native speakers in his community, at his workplace, and whenever he has the opportunity to travel to Spanish-speaking countries such as Spain, Peru, Argentina, and Mexico.$

CO-FOUNDER

Patrick Esmonde has a bachelor\’s degree in Business and Management Information Systems from Drexel University and a Masters in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania, a degree co-sponsored by The Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). He has served in several Information Systems leadership roles in Higher Education for the past 10 years. Throughout his professional career, he has maintained his own successful IT consulting business, which he established in 2000. As a strong educator, he has served as adjunct assistant professor for Villanova’s School of Business, teaching IT strategy, analytics, and data visualization to undergraduate and MBA students. Ever the innovator, Patrick has spearheaded major data visualization projects as a consultant for a billion dollar company and frequently speaks as an expert at technology and education conferences. He is always ready to take on a problem and discover creative solutions, particularly in the spirit of optimization and helping others through technology. Having minored in Spanish during his undergraduate education, Patrick is still fluent and loves to converse with other native speakers in his community, at his workplace, and whenever he has the opportunity to travel to Spanish-speaking countries such as Spain, Peru, Argentina, and Mexico.

Company History

When Helena Esmonde transitioned from a large hospital-based outpatient vestibular clinic to a small, privately owned clinic, she found herself without the use of the infrared video goggles she had become accustomed to using for her patients’ care. Her new workplace was an independent, PT/PTA co-owned physical therapy clinic that could not afford the minimum $8500 price tag for a pair among the current ones on the market. She brought this problem to her husband Patrick Esmonde, and he said, “Tell me more about the goggles.” After an explanation and research, he said, “I can build that.” And so necessity once more became the mother of invention and Patrick developed infrared video goggles that not only did what a vestibular therapist would need them to do, but he built them at a much lower cost. When Helena discovered that this was possible, she asked (perhaps nearly demanded) that they make these infrared video goggles available to countless other researchers, clinicians, and educators whose organizations could not afford such useful but costly technology. For this reason, Vestibular First came to be!

Patents

We are passionate about developing the most innovative and novel uses of technology to support clinicians and patients. These efforts have been recognized through the US and international patent offices with our inventions. Additional patents are pending and additional intellectual property is kept as a trade secret.

10,617,566 – Modular headset for diagnosis and treatment of vestibular disorders

In an infrared camera configuration, a modular goggle assembly can diagnose patients having vestibular dysfunction, concussion, or other maladies observable with an examination of the eyes. In a virtual reality display configuration, the assembly can be used to provide treatment to patients once the cause of the illness or malady is determined. The assembly is lightproof, mobile, and easily configurable.

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