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Virtual Reality for Rehabilitation: Tech Overview
ScienceSoft has a 19-year practice in healthcare software development.
VR for Rehabilitation: The Essence
In the rehabilitation field of healthcare, VR becomes popular for treatment of neurological and cognitive conditions, as well as physical therapy. According to the research, VR improves rehabilitation outcomes, patient and staff satisfaction rates.
The Market of VR for Rehabilitation
In 2022, the VR market in healthcare was valued at $628 million. It’s expected to reach $6.2 billion by 2029 growing at a CAGR of 38.7%. Rehabilitation is among the key directions of healthcare VR, driven by the opportunity of advanced progress monitoring, controlled remote rehabilitation, and increased patients’ motivation.
How Virtual Reality for Rehabilitation Works
VR system architecture
Use cases
VR for neurological rehabilitation
helps patients restore postural balance and motor skills. Commonly used for stroke rehabilitation, recovery from brain and spinal cord damages.
helps patients with limb injuries train mobility functions and overcome muscle weakness.
VR for cognitive rehabilitation
helps patients with cognitive impairment (from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder to early dementia) improve memory, attention and problem-solving skills.
Core features
Patient profile storage
Each patient has a personal profile with medical records, therapy program and goals, session history and progress scores.
Training program editing
The duration and difficulty of rehabilitation exercises can be adjusted – either manually by a therapist or automatically with the AI technology based on real-time feedback on user progress.
Progress tracking
The system records a patient’s actions from motion sensors, compares data with pre-set performance metrics, analyses the patient’s progress and builds its overview over time.
Real-time guidance and positive reinforcement
Virtual reality sessions include visual and/or audio hints and rewards (e.g., changing a virtual object’s color to guide movements, unlocking level badges, voicing encouragements).
Two-player mode
A therapist can join a VR session as the second avatar to show movements for a patient. Alternatively, this mode can be used for patients to train independently at the same time (optimizing a therapist’s workload) or to compete against each other (raising their interest in exercising).
Telerehabilitation
With portable VR equipment, patients can exercise at home while being monitored remotely by a therapist via the web. Such therapy is more cost-effective than in-person therapy and eases access to rehabilitation services for patients in rural/distant areas.
Success Stories of Virtual Reality for Rehabilitation
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According to the research, VR-based software VirtualRehab helped patients improve dynamic balance by 20% (on Tinetti Scale) and static balance by 40% (on Berg Scale) and decrease fatigue scores by 47% (on the Fatigue Impact Scale) and levels of anxiety by 13% (on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). |
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Technologies
Challenges and Solutions of VR for Rehab
Challenge #1
As VR programs for rehabilitation are often intended for use by the elderly, there may be issues related to usability and adoption among these user groups.
Check out the solution
Challenge #2
Virtual reality technology with the telerehabilitation function may expose patients to certain safety risks, e.g., excessive exercising, which can be hard for a therapist to anticipate remotely.
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Cost of VR for Rehabilitation
General cost factors
- Content (number of 3D models) and software to render it.
- Number of user roles.
- Number and complexity of training programs.
Additional cost factors
- VR hardware.
- Development and integration with machine learning algorithms (for user performance assessment).
- VR testing (clinical validation and usability testing) and optimization.
Operational costs
- Cloud services (based on the volume of cloud resources demanded).
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An average cost of a VR rehabilitation application is from $200,000 to $300,000, according to ScienceSoft’s experience in the domain. |
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VR for Rehabilitation: Consulting and Development by ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft relies on 19 years of experience in healthcare software development and ISO 13485-certified medical software development capabilities to build high-performing VR solutions aimed at enhancing therapy of different health conditions.
VR for rehabilitation: consulting
Our consultants help:
- Decide on the system’s functionality.
- Choose the right tech stack.
- Design a scalable architecture.
- Define product development and management roadmap.
- Estimate TCO of the VR system.
- Estimate ROI.
VR for rehabilitation: development
The service covers all the stages of VR system creation:
- Business analysis and research.
- Architecture design.
- 3D modeling.
- UX and UI design.
- Software development.
- VR testing.
- Continuous support and evolution.
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is an international IT consultancy and software development company established in 1989, with 750+ employees on board. Our mission is to empower project success while staying within the agreed timeline and budget, and adapting swiftly to any uncertainties. Explore our VR app development offer in detail or get in touch with our team directly to discuss your product idea.