IMMERSIVE AND INTERACTIVE VR PLATFORM FOR QUANTITATIVE TELEHEALTH REHABILITATION OF RARE DISEASES. SBIR PHASE I TOPIC 020.

为了满足罕见疾病患者对用户参与度和远程指标的需求，医生、治疗师和医疗保健提供者正在合作开发用于物理和职业治疗和康复的沉浸式虚拟现实(VR)环境。这种体验提供了一种远程媒介，可以在规定的治疗运动期间监控用户的疼痛、不适、活动能力和生物特征。研究表明，VR提供的沉浸可以减少物理医学和康复环境中的疼痛和不适。然而，沉浸的感觉对患者来说是高度个性化和上下文相关的。为了满足用户参与和远程指标的需求，医生、治疗师和医疗保健提供商正在与开发人员合作，为物理和职业治疗和康复推进身临其境的VR环境。通过多模式沉浸(如触觉反馈背心、嗅觉面具和其他新兴技术)在游戏设计机制方面的努力正在被调查，以了解如何最好地设计用于情感参与和人际联系的医疗体验。这些指标可以为医生和治疗师提供一个远程媒介，以了解患者的行动和参与治疗方案。现在，这些努力应该演变成一个互动的环境，这样医生和医疗保健提供者以及罕见疾病患者就可以远程会面，同时仍然得到高质量的护理。

To address the needs for user engagement and remote metrics for rare disease patients, physicians, therapists and healthcare providers are collaborating to develop an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment for physical and occupational therapy and rehabilitation. The experience provides a remote medium to monitor user pain, discomfort, mobility, and biometrics during a prescribed therapeutic exercise session. Research has indicated that immersion afforded by VR can reduce pain and discomfort in the physical medicine and rehabilitation context. However, perception of immersion is highly individualized and context-dependent to the patient. To address the needs for user engagement and remote metrics, physicians, therapists and healthcare providers are working with developers to advance an immersive VR environment for physical and occupational therapy and rehabilitation. Efforts in game design mechanics through multi-modal immersion such as haptic feedback vests, olfactory masks, and other emerging technologies are being investigated to understand how to best design healthcare experiences for emotional engagement and interpersonal connection. These metrics can provide a remote medium for physicians and therapists to understand patient movement and engagement in therapy protocols. Now, these efforts should evolve into an interactive environment so physicians and healthcare providers and rare disease patients can meet remotely and still receive quality care.