Augmented
Reality System Allows Clinicians to
‘See’ Patient Pain
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a
System that
Allows Clinicians to “see”
Patient Pain in real time. The technology could potentially be very useful in objectively measuring
Pain and identifying it in patients who have trouble communicating their symptoms. Consisting of
Augmented Reality glasses for the clinician and a cap containing brain sensors for the patient, the
System uses artificial intelligence to convert brain activity data into a
Pain signature visualization so that the clinician can assess
Pain levels.
At present, it is difficult to measure
Pain levels accurately. Also, for many, such as children or patients with emotional challenges, it is sometimes nearly impossible to accurately describe their pain. “It’s very hard for us to measure and express our pain, including its expectation and associated anxiety,” said Alex DaSilva, a researcher involved in the study. “Right now, we have a one to 10 rating system, but that’s far from a reliable and objective
Pain measurement.”
This new technology aims to provide a visual depiction of brain activity associated with pain, as a way for
Clinicians to assess
Pain levels in their patients. Called CLARAi (clinical
Augmented Reality and artificial intelligence), the
System involves patients wearing a sensor-loaded cap, which measures changes in oxygenation and blood flow to assess brain activity in response to pain.
These data are then interpreted by an artificial intelligence
System that can learn which brain signals are linked to the
Pain response. A clinician can view the results using
Augmented Reality glasses, where red and blue dots indicate the location and intensity of the
Pain signal in a virtual brain.
The researchers trained the AI
System using 21 dental
Patient volunteers in whom they elicited a
Pain response by applying cold to their teeth. The researchers found that their
System could predict the presence or absence of
Pain approximately 70% of the time. However, with a larger training dataset these results could likely be improved.
Largerstudies will be necessary to see if the
System can measure other types of painbeyond dental pain. “It’s years away from widespread use in a clinicalsetting, but the feasibility study is a good first step for dental patients,”said DaSilva.
Study in
Journal of Medical Internet Research:
Feasibilityof a Real-Time Clinical Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Frameworkfor Pain Detection and Localization From the Brain
Via:
Universityof Michigan
