Imprint Applications for Pain Control

Helping Burn Patients Escape Their Pain with VR
Immersive VR distraction is showing great promise for clinical pain control. Imprint is teaming with Dr. Hunter Hoffman to create a number of custom VR pain control applications for both civilian hospitals and the U.S. military.

Imprint has just released SnowWorld 3*, designed and developed for Dr. Hunter Hoffman, Harborview Burn Center, Seattle. SnowWorld is an interactive journey through an ice canyon designed to deliver an engaging interactive experience within the constraints of a wound care procedure. The environment is populated with snowball wielding snowmen, flocks of squawking penguins, woolly mammoths and a few other surprises. Patients are drawn into the action in SnowWorld, pelting anything they see with their own snowballs as they fly through the gently falling snow.

''SnowWorld'' puts Pixar-like animation to medical use in a virtual video game that relieves the pain of burn victims. Try it. It is completely absorbing to pelt woolly mammoths and penguins with snowballs while your ears are filled with the irresistible strains of ''Graceland.''
New York Times

SnowWorld is provided free for research and clinical use from Dr. Hunter Hoffman, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle.

Virtual Reality Changes Perception of Pain
Dr. Hunter Hoffman has been using fMRI brain scans to empirically measure the power of VR to control pain. The brain scan to the left indicates a distinct and significant change in brain activity while using VR, reflecting reduced pain perception for the patient. Empricial results such as these are corroborating personal patient accounts supporting the use of VR, thereby strengthening the case for more extensive uses of VR for pain.

Imprint is working closely with Dr. Hoffman to design effective virtual worlds which maximize pain control. Key elements for the environment include compelling graphics with a high-field of view VR system, and engaging interaction tuned to the limitations of the patients and the clinical environment. Dr. Hoffman's results illustrate how a properly designed and delivered virtual environment can give significant relief for even the most intense pain.