Are We Ready for Online Virtual Reality Therapy?

Case Studies in Pediatric Music Therapy During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of very nearly every person in the world. For the music therapy profession and those populations that can benefit from its application, the ramifications are no less palpable, though they have been changing on a day-today basis. During the initial phase of the pandemic, the expressive therapy team, including the music therapists at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, was directed to work remotely using virtual platforms to facilitate services. Several studies conducted both prior to the pandemic and since its arrival in the United States demonstrate the delivery of expressive therapies via remote, web-based platforms. However, there is a general lack of literature on the subject. This article brings forward 3 case examples in order to illustrate the methods of achieving goals and objectives in distanced music therapy: a 5-year-old girl needing a heart transplant, an 11-year-old girl requiring tri-weekly hemodialysis for end-stage renal disease, and 2 brothers whose sister died of rhabdomyosarcoma and who was treated at Primary Children’s Hospital. These case stories offer perspective on both the challenges and positive responses that occurred throughout the process, with a focus on the adaptation to virtual music therapy services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the Use of Virtual Reality for Medical Imaging Visualization

Advanced visualization of medical imaging has been a motive for research due to its value for disease analysis, surgical planning, and academical training. More recently, attention has been turning toward mixed reality as a means to deliver more interactive and realistic medical experiences. However, there are still many limitations to the use of virtual reality for specific scenarios. Our intent is to study the current usage of this technology and assess the potential of related development tools for clinical contexts. This paper focuses on virtual reality as an alternative to today's majority of slice-based medical analysis workstations, bringing more immersive three-dimensional experiences that could help in cross-slice analysis. We determine the key features a virtual reality software should support and present today's software tools and frameworks for researchers that intend to work on immersive medical imaging visualization. Such solutions are assessed to understand their ability to address existing challenges of the field. It was understood that most development frameworks rely on well-established toolkits specialized for healthcare and standard data formats such as DICOM. Also, game engines prove to be adequate means of combining software modules for improved results. Virtual reality seems to remain a promising technology for medical analysis but has not yet achieved its true potential. Our results suggest that prerequisites such as real-time performance and minimum latency pose the greatest limitations for clinical adoption and need to be addressed. There is also a need for further research comparing mixed realities and currently used technologies.

Telemedicine and Virtual Reality for Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Roadmap for the COVID-19 Pandemic

The current COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented new challenges to public health and medical care delivery. To control viral transmission, social distancing measures have been implemented all over the world, interrupting the access to routine medical care for many individuals with neurological diseases. Cognitive disorders are common in many neurological conditions, e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, and other types of dementia, Parkinson's disease and parkinsonian syndromes, and multiple sclerosis, and should be addressed by cognitive rehabilitation interventions. To be effective, cognitive rehabilitation programs must be intensive and prolonged over time; however, the current virus containment measures are hampering their implementation. Moreover, the reduced access to cognitive rehabilitation might worsen the relationship between the patient and the healthcare professional. Urgent measures to address issues connected to COVID-19 pandemic are, therefore, needed. Remote communication technologies are increasingly regarded as potential effective options to support health care interventions, including neurorehabilitation and cognitive rehabilitation. Among them, telemedicine, virtual reality, augmented reality, and serious games could be in the forefront of these efforts. We will briefly review current evidence-based recommendations on the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation and offer a perspective on the role of tele- and virtual rehabilitation to achieve adequate cognitive stimulation in the era of social distancing related to COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we will discuss issues related to their diffusion and propose a roadmap to address them. Methodological and technological improvements might lead to a paradigm shift to promote the delivery of cognitive rehabilitation to people with reduced mobility and in remote regions.

Virtual Reality Therapy: Emerging Topics and Future Challenges

Virtual reality (VR) is no longer a fantasy or a novelty to be used for pure entertainment. It is a technology that has, over the past three decades, taken hold and enriched multiple areas of science, most notably healthcare. Starting from these premises, this special issue will specifically investigate how VR and other important advanced technologies are being adopted and adapted for use in the healthcare field, with a specific focus toward the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.