You might have read a past blog post here about virtual reality coming to PCET. Well, it has now arrived and it’s operational. This is an update for you on this exciting project.
You likely have heard about virtual reality. It basically involves putting a viewer on your face and then looking at real or created images. you can look up, down, left and right and even behind you and see stuff. Because the field of vision is so wide it gives one the sense of really “being there” – or being somewhere else; where ever the program has for you to go or experience.
Virtual reality has been used on burn units for more than 20 years, pioneered by professionals at the University of Washington. Many studies have shown that it is very effective in decreasing pain during painful procedures such as burn debridement. Burn patients, children, and war veterans all have found that this is a very effective analgesic. The problem was that the equipment was very expensive so this technology stayed isolated in this limited setting. All that changed last year with the advent of new hardware that is much less expensive. This means that virtual reality is a new option for chronic pain treatment.
PCET has developed a relationship with DeepStream Technologies. This company has its roots in the University of Washington virtual reality work and is the current national leader in using virtual reality for pain. There are several healthcare organizations that are beginning to use virtual reality for their patients, including a children’s hospital, a rehabilitation unit and a hospice care program. However, right now PCET is the only outpatient chronic pain center in the nation to be using this technology.
While virtual reality has been used in hospitals for years, using it in an outpatient setting is new. So we are not able to use it as a billable service to third parties (insurance) – it is too new. Instead we are conducting clinical trials to study how effective it is in treating chronic pain. We currently have two clinical trials running on virtual reality. One trial is for any chronic pain patient at PCET. It involves a brief virtual reality session (5 minutes) to see how it impacts one’s pain. The second trial is just for patients with a neuropathic pain, like diabetic peripheral neuropathy, CRPS, trigeminal neuralgia or phantom limb pain. Participants in this trial will have three 20 minute sessions of virtual reality and we will assess the impact on pain and other variables.
So if you are a patient at PCET and are interested in being in one of the clinical trials, let any PCET staff member and they will get you in touch with our psychology staff who are running the trials. If you try it out, you will get to enjoy a ride through colorful scenery, including a river, some caves, floating rocks and lovable otters. You will even get to use “The Amazing Rainbow Trout Cannon!”
Most experts believe that virtual reality is an emerging valuable tool that will help control pain without the use of medications. At PCET we are looking for as many ways as we can to treat pain effectively and safely. We’ll keep you posted on the results on our clinical trials and how our patients can use virtual reality to help their pain.
