How might the Xploro application improve the understanding and acceptance of sedation and anaesthesia for child patients and their families

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Pain associated with procedures can be mitigated but sometimes not eliminated. Children who require repetitive procedures as part of diagnostic or therapeutic interventions may develop peri-procedural fear and anxiety. Mitigating these adverse psychological responses requires developing coping skills that build upon patient and parental preparation.So, what does this mean to the young child that has to undergo a bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture as well as MRI of brain and spine to make a diagnosis of acute leukemia? Informing the child what the procedures entail, why they are necessary and what parts may be painful are imperative for assent. The important question is how can we decrease the pre-procedural fear or anxiety for the patient, and is there any potential impact in lessening the stress for parents and siblings?Through the unique use of an artificially intelligent Avatar Guide, 3D augmented reality models and a series of games the Xploro platform has already been shown to reduce anxiety for children undergoing radiological procedures, having blood tests and attending an outpatient's department. We now want to build on that success and collaborate with a leading international institution to examine whether new content has the potential to reduce pre-procedural anxiety for children undergoing sedation and anaesthesia.In this project Xploro will work with the clinical, commercial and user experience teams at University Hospitals, Cleveland to define a scope of work for developing and commercialising a game-based intervention preparing children and their families for the end-to-end journey of a procedural sedation encounter.