Summary:
«Earlier this month, scientists published a ground-breaking study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research discussing the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) as a means for pain relief.»
«The study examined pain relief in patients that were receiving a bone marrow biopsy, a procedure that is notoriously painful and uncomfortable. In the study, participants were randomly assigned one of two methods for pain control. The first was the traditional method, entailing a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, while the second method entailed the use of a VR headset. Specifically, for the VR option, patients could choose from four imaginary 3-dimensional VR environments to interact with during the procedure, including “Nohara (dream-like walk on the country side), Kaitei (seabed exploration), Uchuu (space walk), and Mori (dream-like walk in the forest.” The participants wore headphones for complete immersion, given that the “environments were designed to induce a state of relaxation and light sedation through slow passive contemplative exploration without inducing a hypnotic state.”
Article written by Sai Balasubramanian
21|02|2023
Source:
Forbes