Virtual-reality therapy.

• Autores: Hunter G. Hoffman
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 291, Nº. 2, 2004, págs. 58-65
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article looks at the uses of virtual-reality programs in therapeutics. The cardinal virtue of virtual reality--the ability to give users the sense that they are "somewhere else"--can be of great value in a medical setting. Researchers are finding that some of the best applications of the software focus on therapy rather than entertainment. In essence, virtual reality can ease pain, both physical and psychological. For the past several years, I have worked with David R. Patterson, a pain expert at the University of Washington School of Medicine, to determine whether severely burned patients, who often face unbearable pain, can relieve their discomfort by engaging in a virtual-reality program during wound treatment. The results have been so promising that a few hospitals are now preparing to explore the use of virtual reality as a tool for pain control. In other projects, my colleagues and I are using virtual-reality applications to help phobic patients overcome their irrational fears and to treat posttraumatic stress disorder in survivors of terrorist attacks. At least two software companies are already leasing virtual-reality programs and equipment to psychologists for phobia treatment in their offices. And the Virtual Reality Medical Center, a chain of clinics in California, has used similar programs to successfully treat more than 300 patients suffering from phobias and anxiety disorders. Because less attention is available to process incoming pain signals, patients often experience dramatic drops in how much pain they feel and spend much less time thinking about their pain during wound care. As a stricter test of whether virtual reality reduces pain, I set out with my colleagues at the University of Washington to measure pain-related brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. INSET: PAIN-RELATED BRAIN ACTIVITY.