A helmet in front of the eyes and on the ears, two controllers in the hands, and we find ourselves immersed in a universe of images, sounds and sensations where we can move and perform actions in real time. Virtual reality is experiencing rapid development in the health sector: surgeons use it to train, doctors to make a diagnosis or treat certain patients, physiotherapists to facilitate rehabilitation. Applications to use at home are also being developed. Discoveries during the 2nd Virtual Reality Show, in Paris.
Our experts : Fanny levy, psychiatrist at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital (Paris), founder of the start-up MyReVe; Patrick couny, masseur-physiotherapist in Gennes (Maine-et-Loire)
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More fun physiotherapy sessions
Rehabilitation at the physiotherapist is not always a pleasure! But the practitioner now has a virtual reality assessment and functional rehabilitation solution that helps the patient. Developed since 2015 by the company Kine-Quantum, this device offers more than 60 exercises, adapted to most of the problems treated in physiotherapy practices: rehabilitation of the back, upper limbs, balance, neurological damage (stroke, disease Parkinson’s …).
Pistol shooting on small robots, table tennis, bowling, cutting flying vegetables with a saber … Immersed in an exotic and playful world, motivated by the game, we focus on our objective and we forget the pain. Each sequence lasts 2-3 minutes, we do 4 or 5 during the session, in a sitting or standing position, sometimes on an unstable platform to work on balance.
Significant progress at any age
” I started to use KineQuantum with young people suffering from brain damage, because they need to repeat the same gestures very often to recover their faculties.
Today, I offer it in many cases: to strengthen the stability of the knee after a sprain, in neck or lumbar pain, or after a fracture or a dislocation of the shoulder, to find the fine sensations of the movement at the end of rehabilitation, explains Patrick Couny, physiotherapist in Gennes. All patients adhere and make progress with this new method. I even use it with a 64 year old man who has had hemiplegia. He has never made video games in his life but has a lot of fun during the sessions! ” For this device to be effective, the person must see and hear well enough to be able to be immersed in the virtual universe. This virtual reality software also allows the therapist to easily carry out precise and reproducible assessments, to follow the progress of his patients and to adapt the sessions. To date, around forty centers are equipped with KineQuantum.
To endure the pain
In the hospital, certain treatments or examinations are very painful and distressing: lumbar punctures, biopsies, treatment for severe burns … To relieve pain and anxiety, the social and solidarity enterprise, the Butterfly Effect has been developing for eight years with doctors and researchers the virtual reality application Bliss. The patient is placed for 15 to 30 minutes in a fantasy world, in the heart of a meadow, in space or the seabed … Submerged with visual, auditory and kinesthetic information, the brain “forgets” the painful gesture. and anguish. A study is underway in 30 patients to measure the effectiveness of Bliss in reducing pain and to assess whether it can replace the euphoric gas (Meopa) usually used.
To free yourself from a phobia
For several years now, virtual therapy has been used at Pitié-Salpêtrière, in Paris, and in other hospitals to treat “specific” phobias (fear of heights, claustrophobia, etc.) which affect more than one person. ten.
As with cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT), virtual reality therapy allows you to gradually expose yourself to the object of your phobia in order to desensitize yourself, and this in an even more realistic way.
The patient is thus immersed in a situation that worries him, for example a crowded subway, or nose to nose with a spider. He can decide at any time to move away from it, to get out of it or to dive back into it. During this time, the therapist encourages him and shows him exercises to relax, to reproduce at home.
At home too, VR can help
Recently, the MyReVe platform provides access to virtual reality therapy at home, for people suffering from fear of heights (acrophobia) and claustrophobia.
“Not everyone has the possibility or the desire to go to the hospital or to consult a psychiatrist, so it is another way of taking charge”, explains Fanny Levy, psychiatrist at the hospital. of Pitié-Salpêtrière. To tame your fear of heights, you walk in an open space at the top of an office tower, until you venture onto a terrace with a transparent glass floor … Very realistic, the images follow the movements of the body. and eyes. The ideal is to do 2 or 3 15-minute sessions per week, for 3 months. “We are preparing other applications, for fear of flying or certain animals,” specifies Fanny Levy.
For further
– The MyReVe application is sold by subscription: around € 300 for 3 months. It is used with a good quality VR headset (from 100 €).
www.myreve.fr
– KineQuantum is available in certain physiotherapy practices and rehabilitation centers.
To find an equipped practice: 01 43 44 76 42 or www.kine quantum.com
– Bliss won the regional oncology trophy in 2017 and the favorite trophy of the FHP (Federation of private hospitalization) in 2016.
www.bliss-solution.com
