VIRTUAL REALITY FOR BALANCE REHABILITATION

描述(由申请人提供)：本项目的总体目标是 开发一种治疗平衡障碍患者的新型康复工具 使用虚拟现实的障碍(副总统)。基于他们丰富的经验 使用平衡康复疗法，这是一种非手术、非手术的 平衡障碍患者的药物治疗， 研究人员计划开发VP方案来改进这种治疗方式。 因此，他们建议开发适合于患有糖尿病的患者的VR技术 平衡失调。研究小组由具有以下专长的人员组成 生物工程。理疗、神经学、临床心理学和计算机 科学。通过共同努力，他们计划开发一种可视显示器 展台使用基于PC的技术，使他们能够深入了解 VR可以作为一种新的康复工具被治疗师有效地使用 平衡失调方面的专业知识。视觉显示的基本组件 展位已经在匹兹堡大学医疗虚拟中心就位 现实中心。使用现有的设施作为我们的起点 研究，调查人员计划1)开发适当的软件和 VR在平衡康复治疗中的应用硬件，2) 在正常受试者和选定的患者中进行临床前研究 年龄谱以形成关于耐受性、治疗的想法 方法、适当的暴露时间和可能的反应 措施，以及3)开发用于平衡治疗和执行的特定VR方案 试点临床研究。对于实验1，视觉场景将是 原语，并将包括已知的既是 对平衡障碍患者的挑战，他们认为，这对 康复过程。这些原始场景将被选择来提供 关于如何设计一个虚拟杂货店的见解，它将作为 实验2的基础。VP设施将使治疗师能够提供 物理安全的分级视觉复杂性和视觉运动 当患者进行典型的眼睛和头部检查时，心理安全的环境 日常生活活动所必需的运动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this project is to develop a novel rehabilitation tool for the treatment of patients with balance disorders using virtual reality (VP.). Based on their extensive experience using balance rehabilitation therapy, which is a non-surgical, non- pharmaceutical treatment for patients with balance disorders, the investigators plan to develop VP protocols to improve this treatment modality. Thus, they propose to develop VR techniques appropriate for patients with balance disorders. The research team consists of persons with expertise in bioengineering. physical therapy, neurology, clinical psychology, and computer science. By combining their efforts, they plan to develop a visual display booth using PC-based technology that will allow them to gain insights into how VR can be used effectively as a new rehabilitation tool by therapists with expertise in balance disorders. The essential components of the visual display booth are already in place at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Virtual Reality Center. Using this existing facility as a starting point for our research, The investigators plan to 1) develop appropriate software and hardware for the application of VR to balance rehabilitation therapy, 2) perform pre-clinical studies in normal subjects and selected patients across the age spectrum to develop ideas regarding tolerance, treatment methodologies, appropriate durations of exposure, and potential response measures, and 3) develop specific VR protocols for balance therapy and perform pilot clinical studies. For Experiment 1, the visual scenes will be primitive and will include selected charactenstics known to be both challenging to patients with balance disorders and, they believe, useful in the rehabilitation process. These primitive scenes will be chosen to provide insight as to how to design a virtual grocery store, which will serve as the basis for Experiment 2. The VP facility will enable the therapist to provide graded amounts of visual complexity and visual motion in a physically safe and psychologically secure setting while patients perform typical eye and head movements essential for activities of daily living.