Automating Pain Reduction Using Biosensors and Realtime Adaptive VR

Background

The adoption of Virtual Reality as a coping mechanism for patients receiving painful treatment procedures is not new by any means. Researchers have looked at the adoption of VR based applications as coping mechanisms in burn wound care, physical therapy, chemotherapy, dental procedures and in cases of prolonged hospital visits. For example, the efficacy of VR distraction for reducing pain associated with burn wounds has been investigated amongst others by Hoffman et al. (Hoffman et. al, 2008). Burn wound care is considered to be among the most painful medical procedures. Treatment of severe burn injuries often includes repeated sessions during which bandages are removed, dead tissue is washed away, and new bandages put on. Hoffman et al. put eleven burn patients with burn severe enough to require hospitalization in a virtual environment called “SnowWorld”. The “SnowWorld” virtual environment places individuals in a scenario where they are gliding down an icy canyon and could throw snowballs to snowmen, igloos, robots and penguins. Results showed that ratings of worst pain, pain unpleasantness and time spent thinking about pain were significantly lower for patients using the VR distraction tool.