Virtual Reality Analgesia for Pediatric Dental Patients

Background: Dental procedures often elicit pain and fear in pediatric dental patients.Aim: To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of immersive virtual reality as an attention distraction analgesia technique for pain management in children and adolescents undergoing painful dental procedures.Design: Using a within-subjects design, five patients (mean age 13.20 years old, SD 2.39) participated. Patients received tethered immersive interactive virtual reality distraction in an Oculus Rift VR helmet (experimental condition) during one dental procedure (a single dental filling or tooth extraction). On a different visit to the same dentist (e.g., 1 week later), each patient also received a comparable dental procedure during the control condition “treatment as usual” (treatment order randomized). After each procedure, children self-rated their “worst pain,” “pain unpleasantness,” “time spent thinking about pain,” “presence in VR,” “fun,” and “nausea” levels during the dental procedures, using graphic rating scales.Results: Patients reported significantly lower “worst pain” and “pain unpleasantness,” and had significantly more fun during VR, compared to a comparable dental procedure with No VR. Using Oculus Rift VR goggles, patients reported a “strong sense of going inside the computer-generated world,” without side effects. The dentist preferred having the patients in VR.Conclusion: Results of this pilot study provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility of using immersive, interactive VR to distract pediatric dental patients and increase fun of children during dental procedures

Virtual Reality Analgesia During Venipuncture in Pediatric Patients With Onco-Hematological Diseases

Background: Venipuncture is described by children as one of the most painful and frightening medical procedures.Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) as a distraction technique to help control pain in children and adolescents undergoing venipuncture.Methods: Using a within-subjects design, fifteen patients (mean age 10.92, SD = 2.64) suffering from oncological or hematological diseases received one venipuncture with “No VR” and one venipuncture with “Yes VR” on two separate days (treatment order randomized). “Time spent thinking about pain”, “Pain Unpleasantness”, “Worst pain” the quality of VR experience, fun during the venipuncture and nausea were measured.Results: During VR, patients reported significant reductions in “Time spent thinking about pain,” “Pain unpleasantness,” and “Worst pain”. Patients also reported significantly more fun during VR, and reported a “Strong sense of going inside the computer-generated world” during VR. No side effects were reported.Conclusion: VR can be considered an effective distraction technique for children and adolescents’ pain management during venipuncture. Moreover, VR may elicit positive emotions, more than traditional distraction techniques. This could help patients cope with venipuncture in a non-stressful manner. Additional research and development is needed

An exploratory study on the effectiveness of virtual reality analgesia for children and adolescents with kidney diseases undergoing venipuncture

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of VR analgesia among pediatric and adolescent patients with kidney disease undergoing venipuncture. Patients at an Italian Children’s hospital (N = 82, age range 7–17 years) undergoing venipuncture were randomly assigned to a No VR group (non-medical conversation) vs. a Yes VR group (VR analgesia). After the procedure, patients gave 0–10 Verbal Numeric Pain Scale ratings. Compared with patients in the No VR Group, patients in the Yes VR group reported significantly lower “Pain intensity”(No VR mean = 2.74, SD = 2.76 vs. Yes VR mean = 1.56, SD = 1.83) and the VR group also rated “Pain unpleasantness” significantly lower than the No VR group (No VR mean = 2.41, SD = 0.94 vs. Yes VR mean = 1.17, SD = 1.80). Patients distracted with VR also reported having significantly more fun during the venipuncture procedure. No side effects emerged. In addition to reducing pain intensity, VR has the potential to make venipuncture a more fun and less unpleasant experience for children with CKD, as measured in the present study for the first time. Finally, in exploratory analyses, children aged 7–11 in the VR group reported 55% lower worst pain than control subjects in the same age range, whereas children aged 12 to 17 in the VR group only reported 35% lower worst pain than control subjects. Additional research and development using more immersive VR is recommended.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The emerging role of virtual reality as an adjunct to procedural sedation and anesthesia: a narrative review

Over the past 20 years, there has been a significant reduction in the incidence of adverse events associated with sedation outside of the operating room. Non-pharmacologic techniques are increasingly being used as peri-operative adjuncts to facilitate and promote anxiolysis, analgesia and sedation, and to reduce adverse events. This narrative review will briefly explore the emerging role of immersive reality in the peri-procedural care of surgical patients. Immersive virtual reality (VR) is intended to distract patients with the illusion of “being present” inside the computer-generated world, drawing attention away from their anxiety, pain, and discomfort. VR has been described for a variety of procedures that include colonoscopies, venipuncture, dental procedures, and burn wound care. As VR technology develops and the production costs decrease, the role and application of VR in clinical practice will expand. It is important for medical professionals to understand that VR is now available for prime-time use and to be aware of the growing body in the literature that supports VR.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Game analysis on general purpose technology cooperative R&D with fairness concern from the technology chain perspective

General purpose technologies (GPTs) are regarded as a major source of productivity advancement and economic growth. As a kind of platform technology, GPTs have strong knowledge spillovers, which causes a single subject to lack R&D motivation and adopt a wait-and-see strategy. Cooperation R&D is an effective mode choice for GPTs. For this, three models based on upstream-led, downstream-led and balanced power structures were constructed to study the cooperation R&D modes of GPTs and influencing factors from a technology chain perspective. This study aims to reveal the effects of fairness concerns and power structures on three models. This study also focuses on the roles of knowledge spillovers and government support. The results indicate that different power structures will lead to an unequal distribution of profits between firm U and firm D in the technology chain. The balanced power structure should be the preferred model. The profits of firms in the leading position are always higher than those of firms in the following position. In addition, fairness concerns negatively impact the performance of firms, which may improve the bargaining ability of firms in the following position, but this does not bring a sustainable benefit. Government support (e.g., knowledge and technology support and R&D subsidies) and knowledge spillovers are two key factors influencing the decisions and outcomes of the technology chain. When a firm's relative innovation contribution level is greater, its profits in the leading position are the highest, followed by those in the balanced power structure, and they are lowest in the following position. In contrast, profits under balanced power are the highest, and those in the following position are still the lowest. This study enables a theoretical understanding of how and why the R&D process of GPTs can be regarded as a technology chain. It also sheds light on the fact that the balance power structure model should be the preferred choice and that both fairness concerns and government support should be considered for improving the R&D efficiency of GPT cooperation R&D in practice

The Use of Virtual Reality Facilitates Dialectical Behavior Therapy® “Observing Sounds and Visuals” Mindfulness Skills Training Exercises for a Latino Patient with Severe Burns: A Case Study

Sustaining a burn injury increases an individual’s risk of developing psychological problems such as generalized anxiety, negative emotions, depression, acute stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the growing use of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy® (DBT®) by clinical psychologists, to date, there are no published studies using standard DBT® or DBT® skills learning for severe burn patients. The current study explored the feasibility and clinical potential of using Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training to reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions of a patient with severe burn injuries. The participant was a hospitalized (in house) 21-year-old Spanish speaking Latino male patient being treated for a large (>35% TBSA) severe flame burn injury. Methods: The patient looked into a pair of Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality goggles to perceive the computer-generated virtual reality illusion of floating down a river, with rocks, boulders, trees, mountains, and clouds, while listening to DBT® mindfulness training audios during 4 VR sessions over a 1 month period. Study measures were administered before and after each VR session. Results: As predicted, the patient reported increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions. The patient also accepted the VR mindfulness treatment technique. He reported the sessions helped him become more comfortable with his emotions and he wanted to keep using mindfulness after returning home. Conclusions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is an empirically validated treatment approach that has proved effective with non-burn patient populations for treating many of the psychological problems experienced by severe burn patients. The current case study explored for the first time, the use of immersive virtual reality enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training with a burn patient. The patient reported reductions in negative emotions and increases in positive emotions, after VR DBT® mindfulness skills training. Immersive Virtual Reality is becoming widely available to mainstream consumers, and thus has the potential to make this treatment available to a much wider number of patient populations, including severe burn patients. Additional development, and controlled studies are needed

Using immersive virtual reality distraction to reduce fear and anxiety before surgery

Presurgical anxiety is very common and is often treated with sedatives. Minimizing or avoiding sedation reduces the risk of sedation-related adverse events. Reducing sedation can increase early cognitive recovery and reduce time to discharge after surgery. The current case study is the first to explore the use of interactive eye-tracked VR as a nonpharmacologic anxiolytic customized for physically immobilized presurgery patients. Method: A 44-year-old female patient presenting for gallbladder surgery participated. Using a within-subject repeated measures design (treatment order randomized), the participant received no VR during one portion of her preoperative wait and interactive eye-tracked virtual reality during an equivalent portion of time in the presurgery room. After each condition (no VR vs. VR), the participant provided subjective 0–10 ratings and state–trait short form Y anxiety measures of the amount of anxiety and fear she experienced during that condition. Results: As predicted, compared to treatment as usual (no VR), the patient reported having 67% lower presurgical anxiety during VR. She also experienced “strong fear” (8 out of 10) during no VR vs. “no fear” (0 out of 10) during VR. She reported a strong sense of presence during VR and zero nausea. She liked VR, she had fun during VR, and she recommended VR to future patients during pre-op. Interactive VR distraction with eye tracking was an effective nonpharmacologic technique for reducing anticipatory fear and anxiety prior to surgery. The results add to existing evidence that supports the use of VR in perioperative settings. VR technology has recently become affordable and more user friendly, increasing the potential for widespread dissemination into medical practice. Although case studies are scientifically inconclusive by nature, they help identify new directions for future larger, carefully controlled studies. VR sedation is a promising non-drug fear and anxiety management technique meriting further investigation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Use of Virtual Reality Facilitates Dialectical Behavior Therapy® “Observing Sounds and Visuals” Mindfulness Skills Training Exercises for a Latino Patient with Severe Burns: A Case Study

Sustaining a burn injury increases an individual's risk of developing psychological problems such as generalized anxiety, negative emotions, depression, acute stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the growing use of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy® (DBT®) by clinical psychologists, to date, there are no published studies using standard DBT® or DBT® skills learning for severe burn patients. The current study explored the feasibility and clinical potential of using Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training to reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions of a patient with severe burn injuries. The participant was a hospitalized (in house) 21-year-old Spanish speaking Latino male patient being treated for a large (>35% TBSA) severe flame burn injury.Methods: The patient looked into a pair of Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality goggles to perceive the computer-generated virtual reality illusion of floating down a river, with rocks, boulders, trees, mountains, and clouds, while listening to DBT® mindfulness training audios during 4 VR sessions over a 1 month period. Study measures were administered before and after each VR session.Results: As predicted, the patient reported increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions. The patient also accepted the VR mindfulness treatment technique. He reported the sessions helped him become more comfortable with his emotions and he wanted to keep using mindfulness after returning home.Conclusions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is an empirically validated treatment approach that has proved effective with non-burn patient populations for treating many of the psychological problems experienced by severe burn patients. The current case study explored for the first time, the use of immersive virtual reality enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training with a burn patient. The patient reported reductions in negative emotions and increases in positive emotions, after VR DBT® mindfulness skills training. Immersive Virtual Reality is becoming widely available to mainstream consumers, and thus has the potential to make this treatment available to a much wider number of patient populations, including severe burn patients. Additional development, and controlled studies are needed

Color Coded Cards for Student Behavior Management in Higher Education Environments

The Color Coded Cards system as a possibly effective class management tool is the focus of this research. The Color Coded Cards system involves each student being given a card with a specific color based on his or her behavior. The main objective of the research is to find out whether this system effectively improves students’ behavior, thus leading to better class management. The research was conducted with 350 students as subjects, and the data were gathered by means of a questionnaire administered over a period of three years. A qualitative method was applied to analyze the results and draw precise conclusions. The results were interesting and promising