Category

Lab Updates

Apr 10 2025
3

Pain Studies Lab Collaborates with Faculty at Harvard’s Medical School & Boston Children’s Hospital

By | Study, Research, Collaborations, Lab Updates, Other News

Dr. Diane Gromala and Dr. Chris Shaw are collaborating with Dr. Deirdre Logan at Harvard’s medical school. The group is adding an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) component to a new program that treats Young Adults who live with chronic pain at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Researchers in the Pain Studies Lab — neuroscientist Dr. Zahra Ofoghi, Biomedical Engineers Armin Froozanfar and Sara Khalilipicha, and Computer Scientist Efe Erhan — have updated the lab’s Virtual Meditative Walk (VMW) for this purpose. Initially built and tested in 2011, the Virtual Meditative Walk has been consistently updated according to their on-going co-design work with patient-partners and their research findings.

The VMW integrates VR with biosensors, data visualization, and AI, all of which work together to help chronic pain patients learn to better manage their persistent pain via MBSR (Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction). It has been tested in multiple research studies in health research, computer science, and UXUI design. As it evolved, the VMW was continually tested in clinical and home contexts, and in short and longitudinal research studies.
Dr. Logan and Dr. Gromala met at a Consensus Meeting at Sick Kids in Toronto. There, with ~30 pediatric pain experts, they co-developed guidelines that researchers are encouraged to follow as VR is quickly being adopted for clinical use. At the recent vMED conference at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, for example, presenters demonstrated that the number of research papers about VR has grown in the past 10 years to over 30,000 papers worldwide.

Given that the opioid crisis has not abated, such “non-pharmacological” methods of managing chronic pain, such as VR, are promising. Similarly, the use of VR to treat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) by the Veterans Administration (VA) has been so successful that the VA recently announced its widespread adoption in the U.S. (Bailey et al.), from an initial 5 sites to 147 sites.

Because MBSR is a skill that takes regular practice to learn, the researchers are exploring the feasibility of using VR in the program at Boston Children’s Hospital. They are also exploring any specialized needs that Young Adults may face if they use VR or MBSR on a regular basis. The pilot study phase is already underway.

  1. To access the 20+ peer-reviewed, evidence-based research papers published about the VMW, please refer to painstudieslab.com/publications
  2. Bailey AL, Kirsh S, Rawlins C, Persky S, Clancy C. Early Scaling of Immersive Technology within the Veterans Health Administration. NEJM Catal Innov Care Deliv. 2024 Apr;5(4):10.1056/CAT.23.0356. doi: 10.1056/CAT.23.0356. Epub 2024 Mar 20. PMID: 39474356; PMCID: PMC11521419.
Dec 04 2023
2

Dr. Diane Gromala to Present at the vMED Conference 2024

By | Research, Demos, Conferences, Events, Lab Updates, Other News

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Diane Gromala, the Canada Research Chair in Computational Technologies for Transforming Pain and the Founding Director of the Chronic Pain Research Institute and the Pain Studies Lab at Simon Fraser University, will be leading the Pain Studies Lab in presenting at the upcoming vMED Conference on March 28-29, 2024. A Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), Dr. Gromala brings extensive expertise and insights into the intersection of pain management and technology.

The vMED Conference, hosted by Cedars-Sinai, is a highly anticipated event in the field of virtual medicine, gathering experts and innovators from around the globe. It provides a unique platform for professionals to share their research, insights, and virtual and digital health technology advancements. Dr. Gromala’s participation underlines our commitment to being at the forefront of research and innovation in pain management.

Cedars-Sinai, the host of the vMED Conference, continues to be recognized for its excellence in healthcare. Cedars-Sinai has been named to the Honor Roll for the eighth consecutive year and tied for #1 in California and Los Angeles in the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals 2023-24” rankings and ranked #2 in specialties such as Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery, and Gastroenterology & GI Surgery​​​.

Our work is pivotal in shaping how technology can transform how we understand and manage chronic pain. The vMED Conference is an excellent opportunity for our team to learn, collaborate, and contribute to the evolving landscape of virtual medicine.

Participants include clinicians using MXR for patient care, patients exploring the benefits of MXR as a complementary therapy, and hospitals and clinics evaluating the health economics of starting an MXR program.

May 10 2023
0

Chronic Pain Research Institute appoints Design Director

By | Collaborations, Events, Lab Updates, Other News

New Design Director at the CP Research Institute

We are pleased to announce that our very own Tim, who has diligently served as a research assistant with us, has been appointed the Design Director of the Chronic Pain Research Institute!

Tim will actively work at the nexus of design, health, and technology in his new role. His key responsibilities will be to closely collaborate with a diverse team comprising health professionals, tech experts, design researchers, patient-partners, and international luminaries. Their collective goal? To metamorphose our invaluable research findings into easy-to-understand, accessible formats. This will span reports, visualizations, media narratives, comprehensive toolkits, and workshop instruments.

It is the ambition of our institute to relay our research in a manner that is both actionable and coherent. Under Tim’s guidance, we anticipate further enhancement in our efforts, not merely through our established digital platforms and publications but also innovative channels. It is imperative to Tim and all of us at the Pain Studies Lab that we remain cognizant of and sensitive to the lived experiences of individuals with chronic conditions.

To elucidate this approach, Mr. Tim will present at the forthcoming INFO+ 2023 conference scheduled this fall in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Pain Studies Lab is excited about this new chapter, and we wholeheartedly believe that Tim’s design leadership will amplify our work and deeply enrich the lives of those we aim to serve.

Tim Kagiri, Design Director, CP Research Institute.

Jun 01 2019
0

SFU’s Chronic Pain Research Institute named Founding Member of the International VR & Healthcare Association (IVRHA)

By | Collaborations, Lab Updates, Other News

“We know from decades of research that virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies can address the most difficult problems in healthcare. Ranging from mood disorders such as anxiety and depression to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, autism, cognitive aging, as well as neuro and physical rehabilitation,” said Dr. Walter Greenleaf of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University and the Association’s Founding Advisory Board Chair.

“The Association will play a critical role as the coordinator for the design, development and promulgation of industry standards and best practices for the use of VR/AR technology as part of the next generation of digital medical systems.”

“VR/AR technology will have impact by enabling objective clinical assessments as well as providing for improved skill training and procedure planning. Personal health and wellness can also be improved by using immersive systems to promote better nutrition, engender healthier lifestyles, and to reduce personal stress and anxiety. As the cost of healthcare rises, VR and AR can serve as an effective telemedicine platform to reduce the costs of care delivery and improve clinical efficiency in both urban and rural settings.”

Founding members are from 13 universities and research institutions and from 27 technology companies.
University organizations include:

  • The Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation at the University of Toronto
  • Surgical Neuro-Oncology, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, George Washington University
  • The Brain Performance Institute at the University of Texas, Dallas
  • The Arizona Center for Advanced Biomedical Innovation at the University of Arizona
  • The National Mental Health Innovation Center at the University of Colorado
  • The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) NIAID

Founding members from industry include Dr. Gromala’s collaborator, Frances A. Ayalasomayajula, Head of Population Health Worldwide at HP; as well as hardware companies such as Polhemus and CleanBox Technologies; and health-related software companies, including MyndVR, BehaVR, and Health Scholars, to name a few. European industry members are from the UK (Playing Forward, Sine Wave Company), France (SimforHealth) and Switzeland (MindMaze, Lavendr by Ricolab, Virtual Switzerland).

For a full list of Founding Members and announcement, please visit: the PRWeb website.

Jan 03 2019
0

Pain Studies Lab Ph.D. student Xin Tong is collaborating with a prominent pain doctor & motor control expert at Peking U. in Beijing

By | Collaborations, Lab Updates

Xin Tong, one of the lab’s Ph.D. students, is conducting her dissertation research in Peking University’s Motor Control Lab with Dr. Kunlin Wei, one of the top brain and cognition scientists in China.

Xin’s research is mainly about

  1. identifying the major factors in Virtual Reality (VR) that affect pain perception, and
  2. how to use Virtual Reality to help chronic pain patients to better manage their pain.

Her studies focus on the sense of body ownership, the sense of body agency, and the senses of controllability, movement and physical activity in VR, and how they may influence pain perception in both healthy participants as well as pain patients. Eventually, she plans to apply those research findings and scientific results to the lab’s VR.

Currently, Xin is working with pain patients who live with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), as shown in the picture below. This patient has experienced CRPS-related pain for over four years in his feet and hands. Before using the VR environment, the patient he rated his pain level as a 10 — almost always, and almost everywhere in his hands and feet. After engaging with the Pain Studies Lab’s VR title LumaPath for around 20 minutes, the patient rated his pain level to be 8, which lasts for a short period.

Although this result occurred after only one “dose” of VR, the result was significant, particularly because this patient’s pain is unrelenting. Therefore, over the next 8 to 10 weeks, Xin will follow up with a group of pain patients to measure the effects of using VR over time, and to see if those effects persist.

Pain patients with unrelenting Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) using Pain Studies Lab’s Lumapath, an immersive VR environment specifically designed for chronic pain patients. Ethics and permission to use these photos were granted.

Jan 01 2018
2

Research team lands “best pitch” at Stanford’s VR Brainstorm Lab

By | Awards, Collaborations, Lab Updates

Dr. Faranak Farzan, Dr. Sylvain Moreno and Dr. Diane Gromala, who are studying how Virtual Reality (VR) can help people recover from addiction, were presented the judges’ grand prize at Stanford University’s Brainstorm VR/AR Innovation Lab October 6-7, 2017.

The SFU Research team have combined their expertise across the disciplines of engineering, neuroscience, wearable technology, and health technology innovations to address the issue of addiction recovery.

They were among six teams invited to pitch at the Shark-Tank-like event after being shortlisted from more than 30 entries. They were awarded the grand prize, as voted by judges from diverse backgrounds encompassing medicine, business and technology innovation.

Stanford, recently named for the third year the world’s most innovative university (by United Press International), held the competition as part of its annual Innovations in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health conference, on the theme of Virtual Reality and Behavior Change. The event focused on how virtual and augmented reality technologies are transforming lives, and this year focused on possibilities in mental health care.

Dr. Sylvain Moreno, Dr. Faranak Farzan and Dr. Diane Gromala

copyright 2017, SFU Pain Studies lab; Photo credit: Kathryn Cruz

Competitors at Brainstorm VR/AR Innovation Lab, part of the Innovations in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health: Virtual Reality and Behavior Change conference at Stanford University.

Oct 02 2017
0

At the Pain Studies Lab, ACADEMICA.CA demos VR for Managing Chronic Pain

By | Lab Updates, Other News

© copyright SFU Pain Studies Lab; Photo: Weina Jin

Academica.ca visited SFU’s Pain Studies Lab on September 26th to interview VR pioneer Dr. Diane Gromala. She discussed the VR systems that she has been designing, building, testing and deploying at pain clinics and hospitals since the 1990s, primarily for people who live with long-term chronic pain.

Dr. Gromala also shared the scientific data that validates that her VR system is an effective form of non-pharmacological pain control, as well as future work aimed at aging populations, adults and teens who are undergoing chemotherapy and for adults who are recovering from addiction. Serkan Pekcetin ran the VR demonstration while Academica.ca’s camera rolled.

Sep 27 2017
0

Dr. Farzan, Dr. Gromala & Dr. Moreno: Finalists in the Innovation Lab @ Stanford

By | Conferences, Lab Updates, Other News

3rd Annual Innovations in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health: Virtual Reality and Behavior Change conference, Stanford University, School of Medicine, October 6-7.

Dr. Faranak Farzan, Dr. Diane Gromala and Dr. Sylvain Moreno were named one of five finalists in the Innovation Lab, a “shark tank” style competition for innovative ideas using VR in mental health domains. The Innovation Lab is part of the 3rd Annual Innovations in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health: Virtual Reality and Behavior Change conference at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, 6-7 October 2017.

The triumvirate’s submission in the competition was entitled VR Tracking Risk of Substance Overdose & Building Resilience.

Stay tuned for the results!

Sep 16 2017
0

Undergraduate Researcher Kathryn Cruz pitches at Fraser Health Research Day

By | Collaborations, Events, Lab Updates

Kathryn Cruz was named 1 of 15 finalists selected to present at the Fraser Health – Simon Fraser University’s collaborative 3rd Annual Research Day. This event aimed at building new research collaborations between Fraser Health and Simon Fraser University. It fosters relationships between decisions makers, practitioners, and front-line staff with academic researchers.

Kathryn presented research titled “Virtual Reality as a Diagnostic Tool to Assess Probability of Relapse in Addiction Patients,” led by supervisors Dr. Faranak Farzan (Mechatronics) and Dr. Diane Gromala (Pain Studies Lab).

“Research like this really aims at maintaining a clinician-patient relationship about their treatment,” Kathryn states, “but simultaneously builds self-efficacy needed for patients to build resilience during their addiction rehabilitation.”

The event was held at Simon Fraser University in Surrey on November 3, 2017. Kathryn was mentored by Fraser Health decision makers and practitioners to help supplement and provide support to move the study forward.

Photograph: Kathryn Cruz at the Fraser Health – Simon Fraser University’s collaborative 3rd Annual Research Day on November 3, 2017.

Sep 12 2017
0

Partnering to help people with addiction recovery

By | Collaborations, Lab Updates

The Pain Studies Lab will be partnering with Dr. Faranak Farzan and the John Volken Academy to design a virtual reality program to help people with addiction recovery. This program will be developed to assess participants’ progress in overcoming addiction.

The John Volken Academy is an addiction treatment program for young people ages 18-35 and is located in Surrey, BC. After patients leave the two-year residential program, they are often confronted with environments that could trigger addictive behavior or relapse.

An immersive VR system could be used in two ways:

• First, bio- and neuro-sensors connected to the VR system could transform the VR system into an assessment tool that helps doctors determine if patients are prone to relapse, and could help identify triggers that may lead to relapse.

• Second, the VR system could function as part of a treatment (intervention) plan that arms patients with experiences that help prepare them to confront such triggers in an immersive and realistic simulation. In both cases, the VR will help researchers better understand aspects of the brain works in a participants’ vulnerable state.

“

It would make sense to have some sort of intervention or assessment to see how they are doing, and if we can expose them to an old scenario that would have made them vulnerable to using before, how will they react?

Dr. Faranak Farzan
“

We know that VR is an exceptional tool for treating many kinds of psychological disorders, from phobias to PTSD. Recent advances in neuroscience means we can create even more effective VR systems that may help with our current opioid crisis.

Dr. Diane Gromala

Study Team:

  • Dr. Faranak Farzan
  • Dr. Diane Gromala
  • Dr. Sylvain Moreno

 

  • Dr. Gregory J. Christie
  • Serkan Pekcetin

 

  • Kathryn Cruz
  • Sungmin Park
Partners:

  • Simon Fraser University, School of Mechatronics System Engineering
  • Simon Fraser University, School of Interactive Arts & Technology
  • John Volken Academy