i3 - September/October 2018 - 12

Tech

By Susan Schreiner

C 4 T R E N DS

Medical VR: Reshaping the Future

veryone is talking about the opioid crisis, but what if a
physician could prescribe a virtual beach vacation to
manage pain instead of popping a pill? What if insurance
companies would cover the costs of scenic tours of Icelandic
fjords to lower blood pressure, instead of paying for a drug?
While virtual reality (VR) hasn't caught
on with the mass market, within digital
health, researchers are digging into
immersive technologies. This new tool,
associated with video gaming and entertainment, could play a role addressing
major issues in the healthcare industry.
Samsung, AppliedVR and Rendever
are working on VR solutions to help
patients manage challenges including
pain, PTSD, obesity, anxiety and depression. Clinical studies are creating a base
of evidence showing that VR can block
pain, calm nerves and boost mental
health - without pills and side effects.

Content

AppliedVR is bundling its content with
Samsung's Gear VR headset to manage
acute pain and anxiety in hospitals,
panic attacks, muscle tension and as a
distraction when drawing blood. VR is
also helping women cope with pain during labor. Its suite of experiences is a
biodata-driven take-home program to
help chronic pain sufferers build skills
for better pain management.

AppliedVR is also conducting studies
with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and
Children's Hospital Los Angeles. One
study included 60 patients with medical
conditions ranging from abdominal pain
from pancreatitis to chest pain from pneumonia. Patients played an AppliedVR
game called Bear Blast, in which the
player throws balls at cartoon bears by
moving their heads to earn points.
Dr. Brennan Spiegel at Cedars-Sinai,
reported that with 20 minutes of playtime, patients' pain was reduced by 24
percent on average. Before using VR, the
patients had a pain score of roughly 5.5
on a zero to 10 scale and afterward it
averaged 4. "That's a dramatic reduction
for acute pain," he says.

Hardware Makes News

Samsung recently partnered with
Travelers, Cedars-Sinai, Bayer and
AppliedVR to explore the effectiveness
of a digital kit that uses therapeutic
VR and wearable technology to manage pain associated with acute orthopedic back injuries.

And Microsoft, with its HoloLens
AR, is performing surgeries and delivering ultrasounds in 3D. It is also helping to guide the blind through
buildings, with audio prompts using an
app developed by researchers at the
California Institute of Technology and
University of Southern California.

Helping Seniors

Rendever, an MIT startup, is building
a research-based VR platform to provide cognitive stimulation, socialization and therapy to help aging
populations solve the lack of mobility
and isolation that can result in depression, cognitive decline and increased
medication.
For example, a Boston public library
worked with Rendever to generate content for a retirement residence.
Without leaving their armchairs, five
residents wearing Rendever headsets
enjoyed a tour along the streets where
they grew up encouraging conversations with other participants. In June,
Rendever joined ASALifeline and
AARP to discuss VR-based reminiscence therapy to help reorient patients
dealing with post-surgery delirium.
Researchandmarkets says the potential market is large with VR in healthcare forecast to grow 54.5 percent from
2017 to 2023.

CTA Champions AR/VR

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018

Wavebreak Media Ltd/Alamy

CTA's first standard addressing AR and VR
technologies announced in July, is a blueprint to support AR/VR technologies and
bring them to market. CTA-2069, Definitions
and Characteristics of Augmented and
Virtual Reality Technologies introduces
terms defining emerging consumer technologies such as AR, mixed reality, roomscale VR and X reality (XR).

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

i3 - September/October 2018

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