Release date: 2016-11-04
Ordinary people's attention to virtual reality (VR) technology may focus on the entertainment it brings. In fact, virtual reality has a very broad application prospect in the medical industry. Recently, a study published in the Lancet magazine by the Sourasky Medical Center affiliated with the University of Tel Aviv showed that treadmills combined with virtual reality can prevent aging-related diseases such as Parkinson's disease, mild cognitive impairment or falls caused by dementia. In the gym, rehabilitation center, nursing home and other places combined with physical and cognitive training to interfere with walking ability, improve walking skills can prevent falls and movement disorders in the elderly.
Older people are more likely to fall, in part because of the decline in their cognitive abilities associated with aging (such as exercise planning, distractive attention, executive control, and judgment). But current interventions focus only on improving muscle strength, balance and gait.
The approach used in this new study both improves physical activity and improves cognitive aspects, both of which are critical for safe walking. Studies have shown that virtual reality combined with treadmill training for six months helps reduce the frequency of falls and falls, and the effect is more significant than treadmill training alone. This means that virtual reality can successfully improve the cognitive aspects of safe walking and reduce the risk of falling.
The team collected data from 282 participants from five clinical sites in Belgium, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. All participants were between the ages of 60 and 90 years old. They were able to walk for at least 5 minutes without help, and were on stable medication and, more importantly, at least 6 months before the start of the study. Fell twice. Of these participants, 130 had Parkinson's disease and 43 had mild cognitive impairment.
Participants were assigned to train with virtual reality training (146 people) on a treadmill or treadmill alone (136 people). The virtual reality component includes a camera that captures the participant's feet and projects onto the screen in front of the treadmill, so the participant can see their feet walking on the screen in real time.
Image source: Tel Aviv University
This game-like virtual reality program contains walking challenges encountered in real life, such as avoiding or crossing obstacles (puddles, railings) and navigation paths. The program also provides score feedback and game scores for participants to enhance the enthusiasm of the participants.
Before the intervention began, the frequency of falls in both groups was similar. However, after 6 months of training, the fall rate of the combined VR training group was reduced by 50%. In contrast, the fall rate of the group that did not use VR did not decrease significantly.
More interestingly, when the researchers asked the participants if they liked the treatment program, the team using VR gave a higher score to the User Satisfaction Questionnaire and would prefer to continue using these "games" for training. This means that VR can not only improve the efficacy, but also be more easily used by patients for a long time. For a training that requires uninterrupted training, both fun and effectiveness are important.
The researchers said that the biggest improvement was in patients with Parkinson's disease. Scientists are very excited to see such a remarkable effect in neurodegenerative diseases. They will conduct further research to confirm this result and understand more deeply why the fall rate of patients with Parkinson's disease who have undergone this treatment is so significant. In addition, the use of treadmills is very common, and adding a VR to a treadmill requires an additional $4,500. The lower cost allows this method to be widely used in a variety of devices.
Source: Bio-Exploration
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