VR roundup: FDA clears new device for pain, Stanford says immersive therapeutics can help seniors

Virtual and augmented reality are becoming increasingly accepted in healthcare. While challenges and implementation hurdles remain, more and more organizations are using AR and VR as technologies evolve and the many benefits of tools that once sounded like science fiction become apparent.

A few recent announcements show how AR and VR are catching on in a range of different use cases.

Smileyscope VR approved to treat pain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Class II approval to Smileyscope, a digital therapeutic that uses positive virtual stimuli to reduce pain and anxiety during medical procedures, the company announced Monday.

Previously, on September 25, the FDA approved the VR system for the drug-free, temporary relief of acute anxiety associated with needle procedures, according to Smileyscope. The company holds a patent for procedural choreography, a patented technique that reframes real-world stimuli with positive virtual stimuli.

According to the company’s website, the device can be used for patients aged four years and older.

“Needle procedures can be very stressful for children of all ages,” Dr. David Seo, senior vice president and chief information and digital officer of Nicklaus Children’s Health System. South Florida Hospital News in July. He explained in the story that emergency room doctors are using Smileyscope for ‘artful distraction’ and that families can request VR support to reduce children’s discomfort and anxiety.

“Our robust pipeline of drug-free pain and anxiety treatments during common medical procedures includes children and adults,” said Dr. Evelyn Chan, CEO and co-founder, said in the statement.

The use of VR glasses to provide children with high-tech distractions has been demonstrated in previous studies reduce fear and pain in children during vaccination. At Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California, neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Louis Healthcare IT news in September, VR will demonstrate its value in a number of specialties. In addition to its use in training surgeons, VR helps adult patients feel better prepared for surgery, he said.

Improving relationships between seniors and caregivers

A study conducted by Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab in collaboration with Mynd Immersive and AT&T 5G Healthcare found that the benefits of virtual reality don’t just apply to young people.

Dr. VHIL founder and director Jeremy Bailenson and researcher Ryan Christopher Moore said their research shows how VR “has transformative applications in healthcare, particularly in geriatric care.”

The researchers used technology from Mynd Immersive, formerly MyndVR, to understand how older adults think about virtual reality and how healthcare professionals think about facilitating those experiences. Their study of 245 older adults and 39 caregivers in 16 senior care communities in 10 states is the largest ever conducted on VR and older adults, according to Tuesday’s announcement about the study’s findings.

“The responses from both the caregivers and the seniors were quite positive, which is indicative

that VR can be a sustainable and useful tool in senior care communities,” Bailenson said in the statement.

The study found:

• 81% of caregivers surveyed indicated that they enjoyed interacting with residents more through VR than other activities.
• 94.9% said using VR was “moderately to extremely beneficial to their relationship” with the patient, while 89.5% of senior residents reported the same in their relationship with staff.
• 74.2% of caregivers reported that residents’ mood improved, while 77.9% of residents reported feeling more positive
• 57.5% of older adults reported feeling less isolated from the outside world after using VR during the study.

HTC VIVE – a maker of 5G products including VR systems – Select Rehabilitation and senior living communities, such as John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida, also participated in the Mynd-sponsored study.

“Data like this from industry partners like Mynd and esteemed independent researchers like Stanford University further supports our belief and moves the entire industry forward,” added Cher Wang, president of HTC.

The news Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networks has reportedly accepted the study and is expected to publish it before the end of the year.

VR training on the administration of Naloxone

In 2019 and 2020, academic researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that VR training was just as effective at educating people about administering Naloxone. They then worked with local governments to use it in their efforts to reduce opioid overdose statistics.

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is an opioid antagonist that can reverse an opioid drug overdose by quickly restoring normal breathing. The researchers tested VR training with personalized Naloxone instruction at the Philadelphia Department of Health training clinics.

Then, with grant funding from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the Camden County Board of Commissioners, Prosecutor’s Office and Addiction Awareness Task Force, along with UPenn’s Schools of Nursing and the Annenberg School of Communications, created the nine-minute compelling video to to train students, staff and school administrators, bus drivers and other entities transporting Naloxone.

They left the locally customized VR training video On October 27, according to an announcement from the prosecutor’s office.

“Narcan is a critical tool in our fight against the opioid and overdose epidemic,” said Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. in the statement.

“It is imperative that as many people as possible are trained in how to administer this life-saving drug and this instructional video will help us do that,” he added.

Camden County is one of the hardest-hit regions in the long-running opioid epidemic.

“Rarely do we see such an immediate life-saving benefit to our research,” Sarah Banet-Weiser, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, said in the statement.

“We are all so excited and proud that this innovative use of virtual reality can be used to efficiently and effectively train anyone to revive people who are overdosing.”

“What we think about here at Penn is not just what we can do individually, but also the impact we can have on our communities,” said Antonia Villarruel, dean of the School of Nursing.

Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.