The Healing Power of Video Games
From: Philadelphia Inquirer - 07/31/2007 - page A1
By: Rita Giordano

The use of virtual reality as a therapeutic tool is quickly gaining interest
and widespread use, says James Westwood, a program coordinator at the annual
Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference. Most virtual reality development
is happening at universities and systems are generally too expensive to be
available to clinical patients, but researchers say that will likely change
over time. The Rutgers Ankle Rehabilitation System, partially developed by
the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Science Lab at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, helps stroke victims
recover movement in their feet by having them navigate through an airscape
and a seascape virtual world. "We find they try longer. They improved more,"
says Judith Deutsch, director of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey virtual research lab. "They actually walked faster than the group
that didn't use the virtual reality." Virtual reality trials have also
indicated that the technology can act as a diversion to help patients forget
about their pain. At the University of Washington's Virtual Reality Analgesia
Research Center, burn victims were asked to play a game where they glided
through a virtual canyon and threw snowballs at objects. Patients who were
medicated as usual reported less pain and tests showed less pain-related
activity in their brains. Most agree that virtual reality as a therapeutic
tool needs to be studied more, and some say it can only act as an addition to
conventional therapy, not as a replacement. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/stamford_templates/stamford_story/332376043812967.php

Links:
MMVR
http://www.nextmed.com/mmvr_virtual_reality.html

Rutgers Ankle Rehabilitation System
http://shrp.umdnj.edu/rivers/facilities/index.htm

Judith Deutsch
http://shrp.umdnj.edu/physicaltherapy/shared/faculty/deutsch.htm

Virtual Reality Helps Young Burn Patients
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/01/virtual_reality_pain.html

Virtual Reality Soothes Young Burn Patients
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=78747