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一种沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）环境，用于物理和职业治疗和康复。这种体验提供了一种远程媒介，在规定的治疗性运动期间监测用户的疼痛、不适、活动和生物特征。研究表明，VR提供的沉浸感可以减少物理医学和康复环境中的疼痛和不适。然而，沉浸感对患者来说是高度个性化和情境依赖的。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者正在与开发人员合作，推进用于物理和职业治疗和康复的沉浸式VR环境。通过多模态沉浸式游戏设计机制（如触觉反馈背心、嗅觉面具和其他新兴技术）的努力正在被研究，以了解如何最好地设计情感参与和人际关系的医疗保健体验。这些指标可以为医生和治疗师提供一个远程媒介，了解患者的运动和参与治疗方案。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可以远程会面，仍然可以接受高质量的护理。

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.