Catching imaginary bugs with a net or placing an order in a fake restaurant is commonplace at one Central Florida Research Park company. Though it sounds strange, these activities are helping patients who chronically stutter or soldiers returning from Iraq with traumatic brain injuries. “It is hard to say ‘imagine this’ with these patients.
It is better to have all of the sights and sounds,” said Randy Shumaker, director of the University of Central Florida Institute for Simulation and Technology. IST is teaming with the Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Center — a spin-off company of downtown Orlando-based Virtual Reality Medical Center — to create mixed-reality situations, providing a safe and interactive way for patients to undergo therapy.
Because traditional therapy can be tedious, this technology is interactive and fun, using points and keeping score to pique the patients’ interest longer. “If the patient had a traumatic brain injury or was exposed to a blast, these products would help treat the injury or help us determine if they need further evaluation. Move red cup to blue square can get boring after a while,” said VRMC President Mark Wiederhold.
IST is developing virtual-reality prototypes and VRRC will develop them into products. Eventually the company will provide rehabilitation clinics. Funding from the National Science Foundation should make the initial prototypes and testing available within a year. Weiderhold currently has contracts with the Air Force for their rehabilitation products, but said all branches of the military have shown interest in their work.
“One of the major injuries occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan is blast injuries and this technology is useful in the evaluation and treatment of these wounds. They are receiving high priority,” he said. Virtual Reality Medical Center makes fake bullet and shrapnel wounds for the U.S. Army. A team of special effects laboratory technicians are currently testing 10 simple kits — treating wounds that do not bleed — designed for combat medics with little experience in the field. VRMC expects to mass produce the kits soon, pending Army approval.
VRRC is a client of the UCF Technology Incubator, which provides start-up companies services to help them grow. Executive Director Carol Ann Dykes said rehabilitation is a growing area of need. “VRRC is targeting fighters coming back from the war front and the challenges they face, but also the aging of this huge sector of the population — the baby boomers.
Having the ability to rehabilitate has a huge impact on the individual as well as medical costs and the health care system,” she said. Simulation and virtual reality companies in Orlando are teaming up with the future “medical city” in Lake Nona to better teach students and treat patients. The University of Central Florida College of Medicine is celebrating its newly awarded preliminary accreditation, allowing for student recruitment.
The medical school’s plans to leverage Orlando’s existing simulation and virtual reality technology into the curriculum wowed the accreditation team. “It is an unusual approach,” Dykes said. “A lot of medical schools do not offer that.” According to Shumaker, who is responsible for gathering a consortium of local leaders, including Florida Hospital, to insert simulation and virtual reality into the medical city, these technologies will help UCF recruit students.
“These students are going to expect more than just lectures in big rooms. These partnerships will allow them to make better use of their time and zoom in by taking technology out of the lab and making it available anywhere,” he said. “It is not a substitute for the lab but gives them more options.
People on the curriculum committee are working to see how we can incorporate simulation.” VRRC and IST are also working closely with the Veterans Administration to incorporate virtual reality into their treatment regimen once the new hospital opens in Lake Nona in 2013. VRRC President Angela Salva said several meetings have taken place with the VA and UCF medical school.
“Things are still in the early phases but we are trying to form a partnership with the VA to do research in their clinic and eventually have our products incorporated into their treatment plan. We have had several meetings and will demonstrate our product to them soon,” Salva said.
