Virtual Reality Rehabilitation : An Upper Extremity Functional Deficit

Virtual reality systems are used for simulating different real life situations on the computer which looks approximately same as the real world. In these tools, user need to wear some special cloths which has sensors attached, these sensors observe and record all the activities and responses of the user. These tools are very useful in training of many technologies like in pilot training of Boeing dreamliner, or some new technology etc.

Although this specific program will likely not become available to average consumers, the same foundations for the simulation will be available on the marketplace while being affordable at the same time. In time, applied use of virtual reality such as the Oculus Rift will become mainstream and accepted in everyday life not only due its entertainment value, but also due to its affordability for consumers everywhere. Thoughts of virtual reality often resemble fantastical scenarios reminiscent of scenes in movies with similar themes like Gamer, The Matrix, Total Recall, and Inception. After one delves into the VR technology in products such as the Oculus Rift, one will begin to believe, and he or she will brace themselves for the tidal wave that is the paradigm shift of virtual reality.

For their study, “47 undergraduate students at a Midwest university” were gathered through an online sign up process in which no demographics were collected in the study and the participants had the motivation of receiving class credit for their participation (556). Out of the 47, 2 participants were excluded from the final result due to problems with the procedure, leaving a total of 45. These individuals took part in a virtual reality simulation designed to help people overcome fear of heights. Each participant wore a specially designed set of goggles that allowed for the wearer to have a 360 degree view of the virtual environment and was given a hand-held controller to control their movements throughout the environment. The environment consisted of

The lack of technology in the past has left multiple stroke patients struggling with physical and mental impairments. However, due to the constant change and improvements made to technology, patients are now getting more help with their physical and mental needs. Nowadays, the odds of a patient gaining full function and ability back after a traumatic brain injury are much more favorable than not. Advanced technology such as robotic gloves, interactive video games, and electrical stimulators are effective tools in the treatment of strokes because they stimulate the brain to help regain ability and motor functions.

Virtual reality, also known as VR or computer simulated reality, is a new computer technology that mimic an real or imagined environment, VR simulates a user's physical presence and environment.it does this in a way that allows the person to touch and interact with it. VR aims artificially create a sensory experience for the user, which can include touch, Sight, Smell, and Hearing.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that effects millions of people worldwide, including war veterans, police officers, marines and crash survivors. Recent research of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced new treatments with great potential and better results. This paper investigates the use of virtual reality as way of treating people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Currently, however, Virtual Reality is still in its early development and has limited studies in complimentary intervention to pain management, but within time technology will become more advanced and less expensive. Li, Montano, Chen, and Gold (2011) suggest that the statistics of Virtual Reality application within the next 5-10 years will significantly impact the areas of physical rehabilitation, psychiatric behavioral treatment, acute pain management, and chronic pain management.

Medical Applications of virtual and augmented reality: Virtual reality is an interactive simulation that makes you feel like you are somewhere you are not. It is now starting to be used in the medical field. For patients that are in pain, virtual reality can be used to make it seem like they are in a different happier place. Studies show that it has the same effectiveness level as morphine, possibly even more effective. For therapists who help people with different fears, virtual reality can help conquer the fear. For example, a virtual reality for people suffering arachnophobia allows people to experience what it is like to have spiders surrounding them. Virtual reality can also be used for surgical training. Surgeons can practice surgery without the fear of hurting or injuring an actual patient. This is helpful because if they mess up, they do not have to deal with the consequences that come from surgical mistakes. Virtual reality is a very new and upcoming idea, and in the near future it has the potential to become much more common in a healthcare

These studies found that these alternative methods did help to improve strength and function of these patients, but none of the studies had significant data to definitively prove this. While the data from these studies are not significant, it does not mean that they are entirely unimportant. Most of the researchers from these studies sent out follow up questionnaires about the enjoyment of the rehabilitation styles. All of the studies that did these questionnaires found that the participants had much greater levels of enjoyment and motivation while completing their from of rehab. This shows that while these alternative methods of hemiplegia rehabilitation might not be entirely effective on their own, they can serve a purpose when combined with traditional physical therapy methods. Physical therapist can utilize video games like the Wii or virtual reality software for patients that do not respond to or do not have proper motivation for traditional rehabilitation methods. This can help the physical therapist tremendously so they will have a tool at their disposal to help increase the motivation of the harder to work with patients. While the studies were performed well, they did have a number of limitations that hindered the research. Many of the studies, all besides one, had less than 50 participants, which leaves very little room for participant or conductor error. These small sample sizes also allow for outliers to throw off the data tremendously, as compared to if the study had a larger sample size. Another limitation that most of these studies had was that there were often a greater number of males to females. While this may not seem detrimental to these studies, it does provide doubt about the accuracy because of the differences between males and females, which may have skewed the data in a

Background: Stroke can cause multiple neurological impairments which may relentlessly reduce an individual’s ability to perform normal daily activities. Approximately 30% of individual’s with arm paralysis do not regain considerable dexterity after 6 months. The most common therapies at the moment are techniques that are readily used within occupational and physical therapy, and tend to focus on guided limb manipulation as well as task-oriented exercises. Methods that utilize virtual reality (VR) technology build on this methodology and are increasing the range of possible tasks, partly automating and quantifying therapy procedures, and improving patient motivation

The intention of virtual reality is to help the user relate, assess, as well as manipulate the environment, which is computer generated (Weiss, and Jessel, 1998). The practice and use of computerized capability is swiftly increasing in nursing school and in healthcare. An evolving computer technology tactic for nursing learning is the application of virtual reality simulation. This computer built three dimensional information tool mimics patients in real life in a safe environment, allowing recurring rehearsal sessions, it involves clinical assessment, and it helps students discover different situations among patients, and it also offers immediate response. This is also an effort to keep costs down and keep education more

There are two special accommodations that need to be taken into consideration when adapting VR for use with impaired patients. The first is to understand that the impaired patient may take longer to adjust to the new environment. They will likely be in a fragile state and will need to be eased in gradually. The authors of Challenges and Issues for Successfully Applying Virtual Reality in Medical Rehabilitation suggest “making the environment comfortable … by reproducing a calming, known virtual world, where the patient can feel safe” (Ferche, Moldoveanu, Moldoveanu, Voinea, Asavei, & Negoi, 2015). The second consideration is the user interface. The most immersive forms of VR use a head mounted display (HMD), this adds extra weight that can be prohibitive for some patients. Also, the user interface should be adaptable and easy to learn. The patient should be less focused on learning the interface and more focused on the exercises. The system will need to perform very complex tasks, involved in the rehabilitation sessions, while at the same time allowing

Virtual reality defined as to produce and create the effect of an interactive 3D world in which the objects have a sense of spatial presence by using computer technologies. Our perceptual and cognitive system will be presented by precise clues in order for our brain to interpret and understand those clues as outside object in 3D world. In addition, virtual reality suggest a lot of benefits and advantages to education of technical such as delivery information through multiple active channels, addressing of dissimilar learning styles, experiential-based learning and so on ( Bell & Fogler, 2004, p 217).

Seeing is believing, these words are the best combination to understand the meaning of Virtual Reality (VR). VR is one of the best asset and aspect of our future. No other technology has seen such a revolution like VR has. It is practically in use in almost every field such as entertainment, gaming, defense, robotics, medical, healthcare, military, education, fashion, heritage, business, engineering and many more fields. VR sometimes called Virtual Environment has drawn much attention in the last two decade. Extensive media coverage causes the much more rapid increase in the interest of the masses. Very few people, however, really know what VR is and what are its open problems are. In this report a historical overview of virtual reality is presented, basic terminology as an introduction are listed, followed by applications of this technology in science, work, and entertainment areas. Its present developments are thoroughly discussed in this report. Finally, the future of VR is considered in two aspects: technological and social. New research directions, technological frontiers and potential applications are pointed out. The possible positive and negative influence of VR on life of average people is speculated.

VR environments are generated by integrating a group of computer software and hardware components. This combination is used to generate a virtual environment which provides users the impression of being somewhere other than where they actually are. VR is an advanced technology of human-computer interface that permits the user to interact with a virtual environment generated by a computer using interactive software and hardware. VR is defined as “ a real-time graphical simulation with which the user interacts via some form of analog control, within a spatial frame of reference and with user control of the viewpoint’s motion and view direction” (Moshell and Hughes, 2002).