Virtual Rehab - Rehabilitation Treatment Tool

Hello everyone,

Earlier this year I had a unique opportunity to explore undersea wrecks. As I walked around the wooden deck I noticed the various sea creatures that inhabit the parts of the ship clearly never intended for that purpose. To my amazement, I even found what looked like an ornament casket - maybe a treasure chest? - I will never know, because what I saw then ordered my undivided attention. A large blue whale emerges from the adjacent darkness and shouts as the swim closes close - his fins nearly cut off my head. 



At this point you may say to yourself "this story is unlikely to be real." Well, technically you're right - but for me it almost happened. What I explained is my first experience with immersive virtual reality (Virtual Rehab). After installing the screen and earphones mounted on my head, I feel completely immersed in the 360-degree audio-visual environment. It really makes me shiver at that time and do it even now when remembering that experience. Immediately I began to imagine the various ways this technology could be applied.

The first thing that comes to mind is that Virtual Rehab can transport patients with long hospital stays and forecasts that convert life into tropical islands, or fly across the sky like Super Man as a diversionary means. My next thought is how interesting it is to use this latest technology as a tool for rehabilitation.

Vourvopoulus and Bermúdez I Badia published an article in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation in August this year about the use of Virtual Rehab as a means of stimulating sensory-motor tissue in the brain. Participants wear a screen mounted on the head and earphones. They saw a virtual hand twisting a crank that slowly opened the garage door. Meanwhile they heard the sound of the pulley chains system and the movement of the big iron doors. Participants are then instructed to use mental imagery (that is, imagine they are acting without doing it physically) when experiencing a Virtual Rehab environment. The same participants were then asked to use the mental image of the above motor task without using Virtual Rehab.

They found that Virtual Rehab, in addition to mental imagery, produced brain patterns that were more similar to those present during clear motorbike execution. Because the motor image has previously been shown to help restore active movement through sensory-motor tissue stimulation [2], the results of the above studies indicate that the addition of Virtual Rehab may be able to do it more effectively given that this combination can increase electrical activity in the same area of brain [3]. That is, repeated stimulation of the sensory brain motor tissue has the potential to induce neuroplastic changes so that the patient can return to function.

Virtual Rehab medical applications are an emerging field of research and development, but our knowledge of how best to apply this innovative technology is still in its infancy. Given the promising research and great potential for entertainment, I believe Virtual Rehab will be a welcome therapy modality for a wide range of patients.

Reference

The experience provided by VR hardware HTC Vive runs theBlu: Encounter 'demo.

García Carrasco D, Aboitiz Cantalapiedra J. The effectiveness of motor image or mental exercise in functional recovery after a stroke: a systematic review. Neurology. 2016 Jan-Feb; 31 (1): 43-52. doi: 10.1016 / j.nrl.2013.02.003. Epub 2013 Apr 17.

Vourvopoulos A, Bermúdez I Badia S. Priming motors in virtual reality can improve the efficacy of motor-imagery exercises in restorative brain-computer interactions: in-subject analysis. A Neuroeng Rehabil. 2016 August 9; 13 (1): 69. doi: 10.1186 / s12984-016-0173-2.

Hyungjun Im, MD et al. Virtual Reality-Guided Motor Imagery Improves Corticomotor Ability in Healthy Volunteers and Stroke Patients. Ann Rehabilitation Med. 2016 June; 40 (3): 420-431. Published online 2016 Jun 29. doi: 10.5535 / arm.2016.40.3.420.

Ana RC Donati et al. Long Term Training with Gait Protocol Interface Brain Interfaces Induce Partial Neurological Recovery in Paraplegic Patients. Sci Rep. 2016; 6: 30383. Published online 2016 August 11 doi: 10.1038 / srep30383.

AppliedVR Brings Therapeutic Virtual Reality Content To Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. mHealthTimesmHealthTimes.

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