Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine
Comfort, Pain Management, and Palliative Care Program
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Virtual reality is a multisensory technology that allows participants to become immersed and participate in a virtual world. Immersive virtual reality offers a promising modality not only to distract patients during procedural or experimental pain, but also to manage chronic pain. As the cost of the technology comes down and virtual reality interventions become more available, future studies should address alternative patient populations and virtual reality protocols. A symposium at the 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society explored the current state of research into video game and immersive virtual reality technology as an analgesic intervention for children and adults. Also discussed was combining real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain with virtual reality strategies toward elucidating the cognitive and neurobiological processes that contribute to pain relief with these therapeutic approaches.
Virtual Reality and Pain Management
Jeffrey I. Gold, PhD
Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine
Comfort, Pain Management, and Palliative Care Program
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Virtual reality is a multisensory technology that allows participants to become immersed and participate in a virtual world. Immersive virtual reality offers a promising modality not only to distract patients during procedural or experimental pain, but also to manage chronic pain. As the cost of the technology comes down and virtual reality interventions become more available, future studies should address alternative patient populations and virtual reality protocols. A symposium at the 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society explored the current state of research into video game and immersive virtual reality technology as an analgesic intervention for children and adults. Also discussed was combining real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain with virtual reality strategies toward elucidating the cognitive and neurobiological processes that contribute to pain relief with these therapeutic approaches.
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