VIRTUAL REALITY FOR BALANCE REHABILITATION

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的总体目标是 开发一种新的康复工具，用于治疗平衡患者 使用虚拟现实（VP.）。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- 平衡失调患者的药物治疗， 研究人员计划开发VP方案以改进这种治疗方式。 因此，他们建议开发适合患者的VR技术， 平衡失调研究团队由具有以下专业知识的人员组成 生物工程物理治疗、神经病学、临床心理学和计算机 科学通过共同努力，他们计划开发一种视觉显示器， 展台使用基于PC的技术，这将使他们能够深入了解如何 VR可以被治疗师有效地用作一种新的康复工具， 平衡失调方面的专业知识视觉显示的基本组成部分 匹兹堡大学医学虚拟中心的展台已经就位， 现实中心利用现有的设施作为我们的起点， 研究人员计划1）开发适当的软件， VR应用于平衡康复治疗的硬件，2） 在正常受试者和选定的患者中进行临床前研究， 年龄范围来发展关于耐受性，治疗 方法、适当的暴露持续时间和潜在的反应 措施，以及3）为平衡疗法制定特定的VR协议，并执行 试点临床研究。对于实验1，视觉场景将是 基元，并将包括已知的选定字符， 对平衡障碍患者具有挑战性，他们认为， 康复过程。这些原始场景将被选择来提供 如何设计一个虚拟的杂货店，这将作为一个洞察力， 实验2的基础。VP设施将使治疗师能够提供 分级的视觉复杂性和视觉运动量， 心理安全的设置，而病人执行典型的眼睛和头部 日常生活活动所必需的动作。

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.