Virtual reality (VR) has been found to have numerous uses outside of the entertainment field, in particular within the medical profession. AppliedVR based-in Los Angeles, California focuses on therapeutic VR content for healthcare. Now the company has announced a partnership with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to help improve the healthcare experience at the hospital’s Spine Center, Department of Surgery and Orthopaedic Center.
AppliedVR has be working with Cedars-Sinai in the development of its products which include AppliedVR’s first product suite, Pain RelieVR, offering immersive VR games that divert the patient’s focus away from the procedure or recovery process. There’s also Guided Relaxation, part of the Anxiety RelieVR suite, which is used to help transport a patient from the medical environment, to a peaceful scenic place, to relax and manage stress and anxiety.
“VR is entering an ‘age of utilization’ in healthcare, with hospitals and surgery centers seeking new ways to increase patient satisfaction, better manage pain, and reduce hospital stays. This does not require changing the face of healthcare, it merely requires AppliedVR’s SaaS model for validated therapeutic VR content, to provide standardized and scalable technology that improves a patient’s experience,” said Matthew Stoudt, Co-Founder and CEO of AppliedVR. “We’ve leveraged more than 40 years of proven academic research in how VR impacts patients’ well-being, to take one of the most frightening experiences and make it much less stressful, and in many cases, even enjoyable. Partnering with the world’s leading healthcare institutions like Cedars-Sinai, firmly puts us on a course to transform the healthcare experience with VR.”
“Virtual reality is like dreaming with your eyes open,” said Brennan M. Spiegel, MD, director of Health Services Research in Academic Affairs and Clinical Transformation at Cedars-Sinai. “I’ve seen patients and their families cry tears of joy using virtual reality at Cedars-Sinai to reduce pain without medications or drugs. AppliedVR’s work is helping us to achieve these compelling results.”
The hospital is implementing AppliedVR pilots across several areas with a limited roll out of the technology in the Orthopaedic Center, and the remaining areas launching in the following month.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of healthcare and VR, reporting back with any new announcements.
