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| appliedVR |
Virtual
Reality is no longer just a part of Sci-Fi movies but it has moved from realm of
fiction to world of reality. Besides being used in virtual reality gaming, the
technology holds endless potential for application in healthcare industry.
It finds its
application in numerous areas of medicine like medical education, training
young surgeons for reality of OR, treating patients with mental health problems
and relieving acute and chronic pain, including the pain during labor.
Virtual
Reality ability to distract mother from pain during labor could redefine the
need of epidural in childbirth.
Dr. Ralph
Anderson, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Orange Regional Medical Center in
Middletown, New York found that by giving expectant mothers VR headsets that
immerse them in specially designed 3D environments, anxiety and pain were often
reduced.
“I wanted to
make their experience better,” Anderson said of his patients. “I started using
this device mainly around the office with my staff, but my idea all along was
to find a way to use it in the hospital.”
He got the
first opportunity to use VR during labor when one of his patient Erin Martucci
refused to have an epidural shot and asked for an alternative.
She was
given a pre-programmed Samsung Gear VR headset, with instructions like “focus
on the birds” and “remember to breathe” delivered by a pre-recorded narrator.
The VR
headset took her out of hospital room and deposited her on a scenic overlook of
California’s Big Sur. The crashing waves, soothing sounds and helpful
instructions were able to help this mother manage her pain.
Minutes
after taking off the device she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
Martucci is
believed to be the first woman to use virtual reality (VR) for pain management
during labor.
Besides its application
in labor pain management Dr.Anderson has used this technology for managing antenatal patients who are confined to bed for
long to help them get over the boredom, cervical biopsies or in difficult pelvic exams and placement of balloons
for induction of labor.
The company
that created the virtual environment for Dr Anderson is AppliedVR, it has
partnered with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for clinical studies.
Childbirth is
just one example of VR based pain management, it can be very useful in managing
pain due to burns also.
VR has the
potential to suppress pain in other medical procedures, too. “Because of its
immersive and distractive nature, researchers believe that VR may be safer and
more effective than traditional analgesic methods,” researchers from Shanghai’s
Tongji University wrote in a June 2016 evaluation of the use of VR for pain
management.
Researchers
at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are also further exploring the
possibility of the use of VR for chronic pain management.
Patients
having chronic pain are using Samsung Gear VR technology once during their inpatient
stay and later completing a survey about the experience.
Dr. Brennan
Spiegel, director of Cedars-Sinai Health Services Research, envisions the
eventual need for VR pharmacies — libraries of different types of VR content
that specialists can match to the needs of specific patients.
The basics
of VR kit is the headset that looks like a thick pair of goggles which goes
over your eyes, and a smartphone that is clipped in front of the handset.
More
expensive high end headsets are connected to a computer to run the apps and
games. There are other number of accessories to simulate the experience of
being in another world.
VR devices have
own app store where you can view the apps and download it.
Virtual
Reality | Cedars-Sinai
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