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November 2004 Virtual therapy environment |
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Virtual environment makes therapy funBy Mark Sunderland
The author is Principal, Biomedical Industry Group, Ottawa (
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) and columnist for DPN.
A group of researchers at Ottawaís Health Sciences Centre is exploring the use of virtual reality to create an interactive and pleasurable means of physiotherapy as it relates to brain injuries, strokes and many types of muscular injuries.
Under the direction of Dr. Heidi Sveistrup, Associate Professor in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa and career scientist with the Ministry of Health and Longterm Care of Ontario, the research group is using technology to create an environment for the patient to undergo therapy in a manner that more resembles a practical activity rather than a series of repetitive movements.
 The system that is being used is IREX the product of Toronto-based Interactive Rehabilitation & Exercise Systems, the worldís first interactive application to physical therapy equipment. Basically, it places the patient in a computer-generated world that produces isolated joint movement, combined joint movements and full body functional movement of both the upper and lower body and then measures, records and reports the kinematic data of various activities.
The development of IREX is the result of thousands of hours of work by highly skilled software and vision programmers, as well as clinical advisors. The product (irexonline.com) is a revolutionary system that provides a new, advanced method of recording and managing the therapeutic exercise process by providing a level of control, feedback and patient interaction that has never before been available to clinicians.
 Sophisticated camera technology captures the patientís image in front of a blue screen onto a computer monitor and allows the patient, or patients, to see themselves move and interact with objects in a virtual environment. There are no wires or other peripheral devices to hinder the total freedom of movement.
The patient is guided through an on-screen exercise routine by a therapist. The exercise programs consist of sports games such as soccer, volleyball, snowboarding and other adventure oriented exercises. The programs incorporate many facets of human movement that include balance, hand-eye coordination, flexion, rotation and other functional movements.
The visually stimulating environment and interactive medium captures the patientís concentration and enthusiasm for the prescribed exercise program and creates a positive distraction from the pain and repetitiveness of conventional exercise. (As Mary Poppins once sang, ìa spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.î)
Clinicians are finding that the pediatric population responds well to VR therapy because they consider it as ìplay.î Children find it engaging and compete with themselves and others to achieve better results, e.g. I can reach higher ñ further than you. They consequently stay motivated for longer periods than they would for a less entertaining form of therapy.
In addition to children, there are many other groups, such as seniors and athletes, which can benefit from virtual reality clinician-prescribed therapeutic exercise programs.
The IREX system can be tailored to the specific clinical needs of a patient by isolating certain body parts and/or movements.
Through the interaction with on-screen objects, patients complete a comprehensive and clinician-controlled exercise program in which the performance and compliance is objectively measured and recorded in real time by the systemís camera technology.
In addition to a therapeutic role, the introduction of pleasure to the treatment process has distinct benefits ñ patients are more likely to keep their appointments (no-shows are always costly) and therapists will be able to serve a higher volume of patients because a camera will be keeping a constant watch over the patientís exercise activities, and measuring performance.
In taking the therapeutic process to the next level, Dr. Sveistrup and her team are exploring haptic (relating to the sense of touch) applications in association with virtual reality.
After all, itís one thing to see yourself pumping iron on a screen, but how does it really feel?
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