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Virtual Reality for Pain Management: Overview
ScienceSoft is a software development vendor with 35 years in IT, 28 years in 3D modeling, and 19 years in healthcare. We offer professional virtual reality development services.
VR for Pain Management in Brief
Engaging patients’ auditory and visual senses, VR solutions proved to be effective to reduce acute and chronic pain, as well as improve mental and physical relaxation, lower blood pressure, reduce stress.
Market Overview
The global healthcare VR market was estimated at $628 million in 2022 and is predicted to reach $6.2 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 38.7%. Pain management is one of the key applications of VR technology in the healthcare industry, taking up the 2nd place in owning the healthcare VR market share.
Use Cases of VR for Pain Management
All pain management VR solutions are aimed at refocusing and diverting a patient’s attention, thus decreasing the level of pain they experience.
Chronic pain management
VR for patients with neuropathic pain. Helps to avoid long-term use of pharmacological pain relief, thus minimizing risks of side effects and reducing healthcare costs.
Acute pain management
VR for patients undergoing burn care or treatment of other serious injuries. Accelerates rehabilitation and improves patient satisfaction from their hospital stay.
Medical procedure pain control
VR for dental treatment, wide-awake surgeries, child birth, and other procedures that involve extreme distress. Eases the pain without anesthetics.
Mental pain and anxiety relief
VR to enhance the effectiveness of therapy sessions for patients with mental disorders. Speeds up recovery.
Pediatric pain management
VR for children undergoing medical care. Helps to avoid drug use.
Common Features of Virtual Reality Pain Management Solutions
Highly realistic visual content
that makes for maximum immersion.
Interactive scenarios
for a higher level of engagement and distraction from the pain.
Audio stimulation
with relaxing music or recorded hypnotherapy guidance.
Possibility of a child-focused content design
with the use of bright and colorful graphics and animation.
VR Solution Architecture
The key elements of the architecture are the web administration panel, the database web server, and the client VR application.
The databases store 3D models, interactive scenarios, and audio data. The web administration panel allows access to the database web server so as to update, replace, or add new items, as well as edit existing interactive VR scenarios anytime. The panel also enables control over the client VR app, which comprises:
- VR visualization module, responsible for building the 3D scene of the VR world. Its integral part is the physics simulator module (usually implemented with the help of NVIDIA Flex), which defines the physics of the VR environment.
- Audio data load module – loads audio data from the database and creates an audio layer for the VR visualization module data.
- Scenario simulation system – runs the uploaded scenario and enables interaction with the virtual reality.
Technology Stack
Success Story of VR for Pain Management
Implementation of VR in San Mateo Medical Center
After a successful year-long pilot, San Mateo Medical Center, California, has implemented VR-based treatment into its daily pain management practice. The clinic has seen the improvement in patient satisfaction, cost allocation, patient outcomes, and staff satisfaction.
Challenges of VR for Pain Management
VR’s common side-effect is motion sickness
This is the result of the delay between a real physical movement and the reaction in the virtual world. This delay can be controlled.
Find the solution
Costs of Implementing a VR Pain Management Solution
At ScienceSoft, we define the necessary budget for VR pain management software development after discussing such points as:
- Method of acquiring/creating key visuals (Photoshoot, Video shoot, 3D CAD rendering)
- Number of 3D models.
- Complexity of interactive scenarios.
Additional solution costs include the prices of:
- VR hardware: tethered (Oculus Rift S, Samsung Odyssey, etc.) or standalone/mobile (Oculus Go, Google Cardboard, etc.).
- Possible integrations with:
- Content Management System (CMS).
- Electronic Health Records (EHR).
Operational costs are related to:
- Cloud services (price depends on the provider’s plans, stored data volume and bandwidth).
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An average development cost of VR software for pain management is from $200,000 to $300,000, according to ScienceSoft’s leading healthcare IT experts. |
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VR for Pain Management: Consulting and Development by ScienceSoft
With 19-year-long experience in healthcare and 28 years in 3D modeling, ScienceSoft is a reliable partner for both advising on and implementation of your virtual reality pain management software. Our top priority is ensuring project success under any circumstances, adhering to the agreed timeline and budget, and adapting swiftly to any uncertainties.
VR for pain management: consulting
- Idea productization.
- Long-term road-mapping.
- Scalable architecture design.
- Integration planning.
- Technology stack selection.
About ScienceSoft
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in McKinney, TX, ScienceSoft is a global software development and IT consulting company. We develop diverse medical solutions and provide VR software development services to healthcare and other industries. Being ISO 13485-certified, we develop VR software that is fully compliant with the requirements of the FDA and the Council of the European Union.