Doctors look to treat sick children in virtual worlds

[ via The News ] 28 Dec

Doctors in a domed laboratory in Montreal, Canada are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colorful avatars using toy-like medical gadgets.

Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice. Three-dimensional images of a child's bedroom at home could make him forget he is in a hospital.

"You could take a child suffering from burns and put him in a polar environment, crossing the threshold of reality, to dull his pain," said Patrick Dube, who is leading a team of medics from Montreal's Sainte-Justine hospital and software engineers at the Society for Arts and Technology.

"We know that cognitive illusions have an effect on the perception of pain," he said.

Posted in: Health Children, Technology