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hospital

Boston startup aims to become ‘hospital of the metaverse’

Virtual physical therapy? Sounds like an oxymoron.

But it’s for real, and Eran Orr of XRHealth is on a mission to make it a more common treatment option in health care.

When Orr founded the Boston-based startup, he had a vision for better physical therapy. The former Israeli Air Force pilot was suffering from whiplash, and he dreamt of a data-driven, flexible treatment option that would work better for his needs.

So, in 2016, Orr made the leap and launched XRHealth, in hopes of offering physical therapy to patients through “extended reality,” which includes augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality.

It works like this: People in need of certain types of physical or recovery therapy — those with chronic pain, autism spectrum disorder, or Parkinson’s disease, for example — can meet with XRHealth’s team of clinicians virtually for a one-hour screening session. After determining a diagnosis and treatment plan, XRHealth ships a virtual reality headset (made by HTC Vive) programmed with various applications, developed by XRHealth, to the patient.

But what makes physical therapy in virtual reality better than standard treatment options? According to Stephanie Quigley, who used XRHealth to treat a back injury in 2020, the convenience of being home was a selling point.

“I don’t think I ever would have gone to a physical therapist as often as I saw this physical therapist because it was virtual,” Quigley said. “I did two sessions a week for a while. And I don’t think I would have gotten in my car, driven somewhere, done the program, and come home twice a week. It was so convenient to just be in my home, turn on the camera, and go.”

Quigley is one of about 5,000 patients who have used XRHealth so far. Each VR program is tailored based on the needs of the patient. Someone with chronic shoulder pain might use the “balloon popping” program — think Fruit Ninja, but your arms do the slicing — where users move their arms in ways that can be customized by the clinician. Someone recovering from post-traumatic stress might find the deep-sea meditation application helpful — it prompts meditation while you’re underwater, surrounded by virtual fish, in an effort to calm the user.

One of the XRHealth headsets, provided by VIVE, programmed with physical therapy applications for patients to use.XRHEALTH

The programs developed by XRHealth are monitored by clinicians when patients are undergoing therapy. Some clinicians opt to watch the patient through a video call as they play games, meditate, or use other apps.

It’s not for everyone, though. Some might need more rigorous or intense therapy options that require close, in-person monitoring. Others might be at risk of motion sickness or dizziness. Others may prefer to be physically present with their therapist. But patients who fit the bill say the benefits go beyond convenience.

“It just made it so fun,” Quigley said of the technology. “And then afterwards, I realized I felt actually a lot better.”

One of the challenges facing XRHealth is ensuring public trust. The company recently published a study that demonstrates that “virtual reality technology is viable in treating upper limb dysfunction in multiple sclerosis patients,” according to a release. The study observed 30 individuals using VR training solutions and found that “virtual reality training would be viable” for 26 of the 30 patients.

As virtual and augmented reality technologies expand, Orr thinks the use cases for health care will grow.

“I think we have the potential to become – let’s call it the hospital of the metaverse,” Orr said, referring to the virtual world. “What we’re trying to build is a platform that enables the clinician to treat the patient in the metaverse, but not just as a gimmick, but as a real modality of care.”

Quelle:

Foto: XRHealth provides virtual reality headsets to patients seeking physical therapy from home.XRHEALTH

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/29/business/boston-startup-aims-become-hospital-metaverse/

20. Oktober 2022 0 comment

Examples

St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital using virtual reality for brain surgery

Dr. Abilash Haridas previously practiced brain surgery in a number of ways, from analyzing CT scans to literally drawing a brain out on a sheet of paper and reviewing the different avenues he could take.

While he still does this, Haridas has a new way to practice that is ultimately changing the game for doctors and patients alike — and it involves virtual reality.

St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa, a subset of BayCare Health System in Clearwater, is the first pediatric hospital in the southeastern United States to offer a virtual reality service that takes MRIs and CT scans to create a 3D model that is easily navigable with the ease of virtual reality glasses. While 2D and even 3D models have been used at St. Joseph’s, the newest virtual reality option allows physicians to delve even deeper.

„Now I have another tool — you don’t forget your other ones, but it’s like reading a map,“ Haridas said. „Now there’s a more advanced way to do it.“

It is made possible by Ohio-based Surgical Theater Precision Virtual Reality, which reached out to Haridas to implement the program in St. Joseph’s. No financial details were disclosed.

„Instead of showing a patient where everything is backwards (since MRIs are flipped) and black and white, this shows a 3D model to highlight different areas where you can fly in,“ Michael Miller, VR program lead for Surgical Theater, said.

The model can be used to benefit both the doctors performing the surgeries and patients and families who are trying to wrap their heads around the process. Physicians, nurses and medical students will be able to better view the brain, the problem area and „fly through“ different avenues they can take to perform the brain surgery.

„This is one facet of the future,“ Haridas said. „There are so many changing things in medicine and this is an incredible addition and revolutionizes the way that not only doctors, but patients experience what’s going on in their heads.“

And while it is new technology for some, for the families in the pediatric wing, it is something many of them are already familiar with.

„We’ve noticed especially in the pediatric population, that kids who are 5 years and above are naturally drawn to this,“ Haridas said. „It’s very easy to understand; children are children and millennials have been brought up in this culture, so for them this is the only way to understand or grapple with understanding. And this has really helped me avoid using a lot of technical language, which adds more clarity as oppose to confusing them. Because when you’re under stress, it can cause a lot of distraught and that’s where technology helps.“

Quelle:

https://www-bizjournals-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2019/06/21/st-josephs-childrens-hospital-using-virtual.amp.html

Foto: St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is the first pediatric hospital in the southeast region to use virtual reality technology to show the brain. PROVIDED/AMY GALL

4. Juli 2019 0 comment

Examples

How Starlight Is Using VR To Replace Pain Medication For Seriously Ill Children

Starlight is a well-known charity organization with the mission to create “moments of joy and comfort for hospitalized kids and their families” through a variety of initiatives. Initiatives include issuing gowns that let kids dress up as whatever they want to feel powerful, fun centers with things like video games, and Starlight Sites to transform hospitals into fun play zones. The most recent program, Starlight Xperience, is all about bringing the magic of virtual reality to the hospital. In partnership with Google and Lenovo, Starlight delivers a Starlight Xperience kit to participating hospitals. The VR headset is a custom Lenovo Mirage Solo headset pre-loaded with over 20 VR experiences and customized for hospital use. The kit also includes headset-mounted headphones, charging cables, and a branded carrying case. Inside the headset the software has all been modified as well so instead of being in the Daydream UI you’re actually inside of a Starlight-branded portal with strict access to only the pre-approved age-appropriate content.

The Starlight Xperience

“Starlight is a 35-year old charity with a mission to make the hospital experience for seriously ill kids and family as positive, fun, and comfortable as possible,” said Chris Helfrich, CEO of Starlight in an interview with UploadVR. “We see children getting immersed in VR during painful medical procedures and the immersive distraction therapy lessens the need for heavy painkillers and anesthesia. VR can even take the place of pain killers in some cases.” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this sort of usage for VR. I know some people personally that have worn VR headsets at the dentist to distract themselves and there are even documented cases of people using it during child birth. Not to mention use cases for VR to help combat racism, mental health treatment, physical therapy, treating a fear of flying, across the spectrum of health care, and even Oculus’ own “VR For Good” initiative. Distraction therapy is a well-studied and well-documented form of therapy. The tricky thing is finding the right balance of stimuli. If something is purely passive, such as watching a video, it may not be enough. But if it’s too intensive and challenging, children give up or get frustrated, which exacerbates pain during a procedure.

The Magic of VR

“Our partners at Stanford developed very basic games that let administrators click a button to make it more challenging on the fly,” says Helfrich. “That lets them administer more of a cognitive load, forcing them to focus extra hard when the need is higher, so they’re fully distracted during the most painful points.” “Whether they want to go snorkeling in the ocean or on a trip to the top of Mt. Everest, we accommodate as many interests as possible,” says Helfrich. The types of experiences on offer vary as well, but they’ve partnered with Disney for some apps, such as the Droid Repair Bay, to deliver familiar characters in an interactive space.

“Just because you’re in the hospital doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to experience the wonder and magic of child life,” says Helfrich. If you work for a hospital that’s interested in Starlight and the Starlight Xperience VR program, you can learn more at the official website and request your kit right here. Let us know what you think of the program down in the comments below!

Quelle:

https://uploadvr.com/starlight-vr-replace-pain-medication-children/amp/

9. Januar 2019 0 comment