Gamertell

Have you ever noticed how when something is hurting you, you can put your attention on something else to help feel less pain or to seemingly forget all about it? This reasoning is what drove a hospital in Illinois (USA) to try an innovative system that helps in the recovery of patients suffering from burns.

The Loyola University Hospital, in Maywood, Ill. (USA), is employing a virtual reality system called SnowWorld that helps in immersing the patient in a snowy landscape complete with snowmen, chilly rivers and penguins. The system uses a stereoscopic visor that displays a three dimensional world and headphones so the patient is cut off from the outside world and is free to experience and interact with the virtual world. The system also uses a mouse with which the patient can move around and throw snowballs at the inhabitants of the snow world, who will sometimes fight back and start a snowball fight. Patients use the system while going through their daily treatments and this helps them in dealing with the pain and discomfort.

The system was developed by Hunter G. Hoffman, PhD, and David Patterson, PhD, both research scientists in Seattle (USA), and it greatly helps patients with their treatments by taking their minds to a different place so that there is less pain related activity in the brain.

Treatment for patients recovering from burns is very painful as it involves daily sessions where bandages have to be changed and the wounds have to be cleaned in order to remove dead tissue to prevent infection. Also, the skin has to be stretched to restore the range of motion and to help the muscles in recovering. This treatment makes the recovery a very hard process for patients and any aid in making it easier is a welcome addition to any hospital or clinic that helps treat burns.

This sounds like a great application for games and virtual reality and the fact that pain can be relieved by playing a game is really interesting. Maybe it can even work in everyday situations. Next time I get a headache I’m heading straight for the nearest video game or if someone tells me I’m spending too much time playing, I’ll just say it’s what the doctor ordered. 

Read [Science Daily] Also Read [Newswise]