Low-cost fMRI-safe virtual reality glasses

描述(申请人提供)：神经成像技术，如功能磁共振成像(FMRI)，正在被用于了解滥用药物如何改变大脑功能，正在与虚拟现实(VR)护目镜等产生刺激的硬件相结合，以研究与任务相关的大脑激活评估。到目前为止，这种VR硬件系统的高昂成本阻碍了这项技术的广泛使用。在第一阶段，虚拟现实医疗中心(VRMC)计划建造一个低成本的fMRI-安全VR眼镜的原型，在实验室测试其安全性，并对20名参与者进行人为因素测试。在第二阶段，虚拟现实医疗中心(VRMC)计划完善其低成本fMRI安全VR眼镜的第一阶段原型；在实验室测试其光学/视觉、生物动力学和声学特性；并对65名参与者进行临床测试。这将测试VR眼镜的物理性能，并确定参与者在进行fMRI大脑扫描时是否能够体验到强烈的身临其境和沉浸在虚拟世界中的感觉。类似的商用功能磁共振安全VR头盔设备(HMD)具有眼睛跟踪功能和相关的音频/视频硬件，售价超过50,000美元。由于我们提出了对当前非参数护目镜及其相关硬件的改进设计，我们预计我们的成本将是竞争对手的四分之一至二分之一，我们的售价将为20,000美元或更低。在第二阶段，我们将为产品的第三阶段商业化做准备。对于药物滥用研究，使用fMRI安全虚拟现实(VR)眼镜的研究领域包括大脑/行为相关性、线索暴露反应和使用后的神经再生。其他临床研究用途包括大脑可塑性研究、脑损伤患者的康复和空间导航。虚拟现实医学中心认为，其低成本、fMRI安全的VR眼镜将使更多的研究人员能够对这些领域的重要研究问题进行调查，从而为改善公众健康做出重要贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which are being used to understand how drugs of abuse alter brain functioning, are being combined with stimulus-producing hardware such as virtual reality (VR) goggles to study task-related assessments of brain activation. The high cost of such VR hardware systems has thus far inhibited widespread use of this technology. In Phase I, The Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) plans to construct a prototype of low-cost fMRI-safe VR glasses, test its safety in the laboratory, and perform human factors testing on 20 participants. In Phase II, The Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) plans to refine its Phase I prototype of low- cost fMRI-safe VR glasses; test their optical/visual, biodynamic, and acoustical properties in the laboratory; and perform clinical testing on 65 participants. This will test the physical performance of the VR glasses and determine whether participants are able to experience a strong feeling of presence and immersion in the virtual world during an fMRI brain scan. Comparable commercially available fMRI-safe VR head-mounted devices (HMDs) with eye-tracking capabilities and associated audio/video hardware sell for more than $50,000. Because we propose an improved design over current non-parametric goggles and their associated hardware, we expect our cost to be between 1/4 and 1/2 that of our competitors and our selling price to be $20,000 or less. During Phase II, we will prepare the product for Phase III commercialization. For drug abuse research, study areas using the fMRI-safe virtual reality (VR) glasses include brain/behavior correlations, cue exposure response, and neural regeneration post-usage. Other clinical research uses include brain plasticity research, rehabilitation of brain-injured patients, and spatial navigation. The Virtual Reality Medical Center believes that its low-cost, fMRI-safe VR glasses will enable more researchers to be able to conduct investigations into important research questions in these areas, thus making an important contribution to improving public health.