ing an eye on the physiological monitors
attached to the patient.
According to Skip Rizzo, Research
Scientist and co-Director of the Virtual
Reality Psychology and Social neuro-science department at Ic T who was primarily involved with the development of
Virtual Iraq, 80 percent of the first group
of 20 PTSD patients who underwent
therapy in up to 120-minute sessions
over five weeks at the naval Medical
center at San Diego showed dramatic
improvement.
comparable results have been
achieved at the Madigan Army Medical center at Ft. lewis, WA, with similar
results expected at other medical centers participating in the clinical evaluation studies.
“The PTSD virtual reality program is
just starting to gather the evidence that
it’s better than conventional therapy, and
the VR therapy relies on already established psychotherapy principles,” Rizzo
said. “Some people are not so good at
imagination, and therapy avoidance is
one of the key symptoms of PTSD. So
when you are dealing with imaginal forms
of therapy, even though they are documented as the best form of treatment for
PTSD, you never know what’s going on
in the hidden world of imagination. So
what virtual reality does is become a more
potent and hopefully more effective way
of conducting exposure therapy.”
Walter Reed occupational therapist and
driving rehabilitation specialist who
coordinates driver simulator rehabilitation therapy, in addition to actual driving
skills, the device is used to train mobility skills and muscle memory training
needed to transition to an actual vehicle.
Patients can choose to begin simulator therapy whenever they feel they are
ready to do so. About 40 patients have
successfully completed the therapy program so far.
“Patients choose to begin driver
simulator training quite early in the rehabilitation process, and it’s a great motiva-tor,” Phipps said. “our results have been
anecdotal so far, but the greatest effec-
tiveness of the therapy we have seen
so far is in motivation and education.
overall, driving simulators have become
widely accepted as an adjunct to conventional therapy by clinicians, and such
simulators offer a safe environment for
clinicians and patients to start to address
driving rehabilitation.”
Learning to Walk
Another simulation-based rehabilitation
system at Walter Reed is the computer-Assisted Rehabilitation environment
(cARen), developed and manufactured
by Motek Medical of Amsterdam, The
netherlands. Another cARen system
is in operation at Brooke Army Medical
SIMULATION
SIMULATION
VISUALIZATION
VISUALIZATION
HUMAN-MACHINE
HUMAN-MACHINE
INTERFACE
INTERFACE
CON TEN T CREATION
CONTENT CREATION
PRE-LIVE THE FUTURE
Learning to Drive Again
one of the more conventional simulation-based tools being employed for
the rehabilitation of wounded warriors
is the driver simulator. At the Military
Advanced Training center at Walter
Reed Memorial hospital, such a sim is
being used to help soldiers with a wide
variety of disabilities, including the loss
of a limb and traumatic brain injury (TBI),
regain their driving skills.
The Walter Reed driver trainer is a
prototype comprised of components
from a number of sources, including a
donated pickup truck cab and body from
general Motors and scenario software
from America’s Army, and coordinated
by the Army center for enhanced Performance. The sim features projectors
and screens that provide both front and
side views, and can be equipped with the
adaptive medical devices that aid handicapped drivers
According to Tammy Phipps, the
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MS&T MAGAZINE • ISSUE 3/2009 11
