Experts ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Virtual Reality

https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/experts-cautiously-optimistic-about-extended-reality-mental-healthcare

“The future of medical extended reality (medical XR) must be built upon the successes and the failures of the past to move forward realistically,” Wiederhold said.

“We’re putting [anxiety] patients into the environment. We’re having them confront what they’re afraid of, change that physiological response, that cognitive response, having them confront those emotions and then having them do behavioral change so that they can translate that and no longer have that fear or phobia in the real-world setting,” she says.

Management of Psychological Stress in Nurses and Teachers

The recent convergence between technology and medicine is offering innovative methods and tools for behavioral health care. Among these, an emerging approach is the use of virtual reality (VR) within exposure-based protocols for anxiety disorders, and in particular posttraumatic stress disorder. In a randomised controlled clinical trial funded by the European Commission, our team was able to show that Virtual Reality enhanced treatment is able to significantly reduce stress, while increasing coping skills.

interstress-rct

European Medical Journal – Innovations

Interactive Media Institute, Virtual Reality Medical Center, and the Panamerican University School of Medicine in Mexico City recently published findings on the use of virtual reality (VR) surgical pain distraction in the January 2017 issue of the European Medical Journal – Innovations. In a study of 115 participants, researchers found people who viewed immersive VR environments reported less pain during and after their gastrointestinal surgical procedure than those who did not. The researchers call for further investigation into whether VR can be used to supplement or replace traditional pharmacological anesthesia.

 

This research adds on to studies already examining the use of VR in pain attenuation, but is one of the first to use VR during surgical procedures. Not only did the patients report lower pain scores, but the success of the treatment suggests the potential of VR to help lower the need for medications like anesthesia. Additionally, the surgeon rated his stress lower and completed surgeries faster when patients were in VR. The reduction of pain without pharmacological substances can 1) help lower costs for public health institutions, 2) reduce the risk of complications, and 3) decrease patient recovery time.

 

Contact author:

Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold

Virtual Reality Medical Center

frontoffice@vrphobia.com

Access full text:http://emjreviews.com/therapeutic-area/innovations/virtual-reality-assisted-anaesthesia-during-upper-gastrointestinal-endoscopy-report-of-115-cases

Vázquez JL, Wiederhold BK, Miller I, Wiederhold MD. Virtual reality assisted anaesthesia during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: report of 115 cases. EMJ Innov. 2017;1[1]:75-82. http://emjreviews.com/therapeutic-area/innovations/virtual-reality-assisted-anaesthesia-during-upper-gastrointestinal-endoscopy-report-of-115-cases/

European Medical Journal – Innovations

Interactive Media Institute, Virtual Reality Medical Center, and the Panamerican University School of Medicine in Mexico City recently published findings on the use of virtual reality (VR) surgical pain distraction in the January 2017 issue of the European Medical Journal – Innovations. In a study of 115 participants, researchers found people who viewed immersive VR environments reported less pain during and after their gastrointestinal surgical procedure than those who did not. The researchers call for further investigation into whether VR can be used to supplement or replace traditional pharmacological anesthesia.

 

This research adds on to studies already examining the use of VR in pain attenuation, but is one of the first to use VR during surgical procedures. Not only did the patients report lower pain scores, but the success of the treatment suggests the potential of VR to help lower the need for medications like anesthesia. Additionally, the surgeon rated his stress lower and completed surgeries faster when patients were in VR. The reduction of pain without pharmacological substances can 1) help lower costs for public health institutions, 2) reduce the risk of complications, and 3) decrease patient recovery time.

 

Contact author:

Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold

Virtual Reality Medical Center

frontoffice@vrphobia.com

Access full text:http://emjreviews.com/therapeutic-area/innovations/virtual-reality-assisted-anaesthesia-during-upper-gastrointestinal-endoscopy-report-of-115-cases

Vázquez JL, Wiederhold BK, Miller I, Wiederhold MD. Virtual reality assisted anaesthesia during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: report of 115 cases. EMJ Innov. 2017;1[1]:75-82. http://emjreviews.com/therapeutic-area/innovations/virtual-reality-assisted-anaesthesia-during-upper-gastrointestinal-endoscopy-report-of-115-cases/

Checking email less frequently reduces stress

checking_email_stress

Checking email less frequently reduces stress, according to psychologists at the University of British Columbia.

They instructed half of the study’s 124 adults, including students, financial analysts and medical professionals, to limit checking their email to three times daily for a week, while telling the other half to check email as often as they did before the study. Then the researchers reversed the instructions for the two groups during a subsequent week. The researchers found that during the limited email use week, participants experienced significantly lower daily stress than during the unlimited email use week. Lower stress, in turn, predicted higher well-being on a diverse range of well-being outcomes. These findings highlight the benefits of checking email less frequently for reducing psychological stress.

You can read the full research on Computer in Human Behavior book.

Belgian Economic Mission to the United States

Brussels, Belgium (June 11, 2013) – The Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) was selected to participate in the recent Belgian Economic Mission to the United States, organized by the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency in collaboration with the regional institutions Wallonia Foreign Trade & Investment AgencyBrussels Invest & Export and Flanders Investment & Trade and FPS Foreign Affairs.  The event, held from June 2 to June 9, 2013,was presided over by Prince Philippe of Belgium, and consisted of 393 participants, bringing together companies from various business sectors to expand their influence to the U.S. and promote trade between Belgium and the U.S.

 

Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) uses simulation technologies in three main areas: 1) treating patients with stress, anxiety, and trauma, 2) training for military medical and civilian populations, and 3) enhancing medical educational programs. A Belgian corporation established in December 2006 with affiliates in the U.S. and China, VRMI principals are world leaders in applying VR technology in combination with physiological monitoring and feedback for training, therapy, and emerging applications. We are also focused on developing a comprehensive protocol to address an array of needs for military personnel and civilian first responders as well as emerging technologies for various security and intelligence operations. Having been involved in R&D projects in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. for the past 25 years, we have won over 50 competitive government contracts and look now towards marketing the developed products and protocols.

 

Representing VRMI on the mission were Prof. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold, President, and Prof. Dr. Mark Wiederhold, Director of Clinical Research.

China Hi-tech Fair 2013

Brussels, Belgium (June 27, 2013) – The Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) attended the China Hi-Tech Fair in Belgium, an overseas session of the China High Tech Fair in Shenzhen. The China High Tech Fair in Shenzhen (CHTF) is the largest, most influential scientific and technological fair in China. Nearly 3,000 exhibitors from 50 different countries normally attend CHTF, and visitor numbers have well surpassed 500,000. Brussels Invest & Export, Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and Agoria hosted the event, held on June 27 2013, at the Hotel Sheraton Rogier. Representatives from 28 Chinese companies and institutions, as well as many Belgian-based companies, that were looking to find trading and technological partners in Belgium, were in attendance.

 

Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) uses simulation technologies in three main areas: 1) treating patients with stress, anxiety, and trauma, 2) training for military medical and civilian populations, and 3) enhancing medical educational programs. A Belgian corporation established in December 2006 with affiliates in the U.S. and China, VRMI principals are world leaders in applying VR technology in combination with physiological monitoring and feedback for training, therapy, and emerging applications. We are also focused on developing a comprehensive protocol to address an array of needs for military personnel and civilian first responders as well as emerging technologies for various security and intelligence operations. Having been involved in R&D projects in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. for the past 25 years, we have won over 50 competitive government contracts and look now towards marketing the developed products and protocols.

 

Representing VRMI at the fair were Prof. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold, President, and Stacey Kao, who is interning at VRMI through the study abroad program with Boston University Brussels.

 

Dr. Wiederhold and Ms Kao at China Hi-Tech Fair 2013

Tackling Stress Head on
Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) is a Belgian SME headquartered in the Brussels Life Science Incubator on the Catholic University’s Brussels campus in Woluwe Saint-Lambert.
For the past 15 years, the company has been using simulation technologies in three main areas:
■ To treat patients with anxiety
disorders (phobias, panic and
post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD);
■ To train both military and civilian
populations; and
■ To enhance educational
programmes.
The virtual environments VRMI constructs uniformly elicit significant physiological arousal to replicate real-world experiences. The VRMI team attributes its strength to a cadre of highly experienced medical and psychology professionals, working in tandem with technical team members and end-users. VRMI’s development concept utilises a three-pronged approach. New concepts for products are initially discussed with clinicians and technical members of the team, which include software developers, programmers, hardware integrators and computer graphic artists. After feasibility studies are completed, the team creates prototypes and obtains informed consent and IRB approvals. Following this, these new, virtual worlds are first tested on normal controls and then on study participants. With the participants’ permission, technical team members speak to them about their impressions and thoughts on how to improve the VR software. VRMI has found that most participants are interested in communicating with both clinical and
technical members of the team. In other settings, the latter rarely receive input directly from users, so this feedback is valuable for improving the design of future environments and products to more closely match
end-user needs. Since our team includes international collaborators, we are able to create culturally sensitive VR systems designed for a more diverse group of users. VRMI serves on EU grants as both a Dissemination and Exploitation Work Package Leader and a Clinical Partner, using a combined communications platform of an annual international conference, specialised workshops, a quarterly magazine, a
scientific journal, a website information portal and a social networking site to provide information and education to interested stakeholders, whether they be policymakers, funding agents, academics or interested individual citizens.
The full article can be read here: “Tackling Stress Head On_B. Wiederhold“!
Belgian Economic Mission to the United States

Brussels, Belgium (June 11, 2013) — The Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) was selected to participate in the recent Belgian Economic Mission to the United States, organized by the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency in collaboration with the regional institutions Wallonia Foreign Trade & Investment Agency, Brussels Invest & Export, and Flanders Investment & Trade and FPS Foreign Affairs. The event, held from June 2 to June 9, 2013, was presided over by the Prince Philippe of Belgium, and consisted of 393 participants, bring together companies from various business sectors to expand their influence to the U.S. and promote trade between Belgium and the U.S.

Virtual Reality Medical Center uses simulation technologies in three main areas: 1) treating patients with stress, anxiety, and trauma, 2) training for military medical and civilian populations, and 3) enhancing medical educational programs. A Belgian corporation established in December 2006 with affiliates in the U.S. and China, VRMC principals are world leaders in applying VR technology in combination with physiological monitoring and feedback fro training, therapy, and emerging applications. We are also focused on developing a comprehensive protocol to address an array of needs for military personnel and civilian first responders as well as emerging technologies for various security and intelligence operations. Having been involved in R&D projects in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. for the past 25 years, we have won over 50 competitive government contracts and look now towards marketing the developed products and protocols.

 

Representing VRMC on the mission were Prof. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold, President, and Prof. Dr. Mark Wiederhold, Director of Clinical Research.