Virtual Reality Technology is Transforming the World of MedicineVR Pain Management Therapy: Dr. Hunter Hoffman, a pain expert at the University of Washington, Seattle, has stated that virtual reality devices have worked wonders for patients recovering from severe burns. While undergoing painful wound care, the patients wearing the immersive glasses entered into a computer-generated world. When in the virtual reality environment, dramatic reductions were found in pain-related brain activity, compared to when they were not.
Steven Palter M.D., assistant professor and clinic chief of reproductive medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale School of Medicine, said that VR headsets were being used by women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) under local anesthetic. His study has shown that women who wore a virtual reality headset during a painful surgical procedure for infertility found the soothing scenes and music greatly reduced their anxiety and discomfort. In tests conducted at Children's Hospital of Oklahoma, while undergoing lumbar punctures, adolescent cancer patients who wore VR glasses and watched a video said the VR glasses helped to distract them from the procedures. Subjects rated their pain as being lower when using VR glasses. VR Rehabilitation Therapy: At the University of Washington, Virtual Reality Technology is being used to treat Parkinson's Disease patients where the ability to walk has become progressively restricted. Head worn video glasses displaying a televised image help the patients overcome the halting, hesitant gait that characterizes the disease. The glasses project a track of objects, such as yellow blocks, at stride-spaced intervals. When wearers practice stepping across the virtual tracks, normal stride length may be achieved and in some cases even running may be enabled. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science facility is using an i-glasses PC/SVGA in their research lab. The head worn display provides an immersive virtual world for subjects to interact with. Because of their lightweight (less than 7 ounces) design, the glasses are may be worn comfortably by anyone, especially weak patients. VR Treatment Therapy I held my four-year-old daughter down on the gurney, tightly holding her arms and shoulder still. Her grandmother held her legs. I looked down at my daughter’s face. Eyes squeezed shut. Contorted, bright red features. She had become non-verbal minutes before as we tried to coax her into allowing her 24-day-old implanted PortaCath to be accessed for the just the second time....read more
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