Monthly Archives: May 2020

Patients perceptions of virtual reality therapy in the management of chronic cancer pain

We conducted two mini focus groups addressing the topics of participants’ experiences and perceptions of the use of VR in August, 2018 and March, 2019.  The results from the focus groups have now been published.

Key Takeaways:

  • We found five major thematic categories and 23 sub-categories emerged in the analysis process reflecting the participants’ narrative.
  • Similar to other research, we found mixed results in the use of adjunctive VR therapy to manage chronic cancer pain, although a majority of respondents found it to be beneficial.
  • Our results confirm that pain management is a highly complex and individualized process. For maximum efficacy, it is recommended that future designs of VR interventions engage pain patients in the design process to ensure maximum efficacy of experiences to with individuals’ preferences.

The article is published in an open-access journal and is available for your viewing here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020307611

We hope you enjoy the article!

Burnaby surgeon uses virtual reality to teach medical residents

During this uncertain time, non-essential surgeries like knee and hip replacements are on hold. And so is the hands-on training for surgical residents in the orthopedics program at the University of British Columbia.

But those residents will soon be able to practise doing surgeries using Precision OS, a cutting-edge virtual reality program created by Dr. Danny Goel, an orthopedic surgeon at Burnaby General Hospital. The technology is already being used by orthopaedic residents at the University of Connecticut, and will roll out at UBC in mid-May.

To read more about this exciting new development in VR use in medical education, visit the link to the full story published on CTV news here.

We are certainly looking forward to all the ways VR can be used to advance medical education both during and perhaps after we return to the “new normal”.

VR SURGERY