SITE
About People Research Collaborations Publications Resources Opportunities

Pain Distraction

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) as a pain distraction technique has been shown to be effective during dressing changes for burns, physical therapy for burns, dental procedures, experimental ischemic pain, experimental thermal pain, venipuncture, blood sampling and suturing.

Currently two different Virtual Environments are being tested at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

Goals
The goals of the current Pain Distraction projects are as follows:

• Determine if Virtual Reality is a useful distraction technique for children undergoing a series of three PEG-asparaginase injections compared to standard treatment.
• Determine if Virtual Reality is a useful distraction technique for children aged between 6 and 18 years during a range medical procedures.
• Compare the two Virtual Environments to determine if children prefer one over the other.
• Develop a testing protocol to observe fMRI during painful procedures with and without Virtual Reality.

Differences Between This Project and Others in the Field
This project differs from others in the following ways:

• This research aims to investigate the use of Virtual Reality as a distraction technique for minor medical procedures

Related Projects
The use of Virtual Reality as a distraction technique is also being investigated in minor procedures with adults in collaboration with Anshuman Singh at Los Angeles County Hospital.

Team Members
Jeff Gold, PhD (Co-Project Investigator)
Belinda Lange, PhD (Co-Project Investigator)
Albert "Skip" Rizzo, PhD (Co-Project Investigator)
Nicole Maher (Co-Project Investigator)

External Collaborators
Jeffery Gold, PhD
Nicole Maher

Contact Name
Belinda Lange, PhD (lange@ict.usc.edu)