Solutions from Ukraine: Ukrainian developers create revolutionary VR simulator to aid in rehabilitation of amputee soldiers and civilians

Ukrainian company Advin has developed a medical VR rehabilitation simulator to help military and civilian amputees cope with phantom pain.

The Village reported that.

What is the problem?

The exact number of soldiers and civilians who lost limbs during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine is not known. Preliminary data from the Wall Street Journal, citing the world's largest prosthetics manufacturer, Ottobock, suggests that over 50,000 people have required prosthetics in the 17 months since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine.

What is the solution?

For the first time in Ukraine, the Advin company presents a fundamentally new rehabilitation tool based on virtual reality.

The rehabilitation simulator in virtual reality VR-NOW, through a set of exercises in the virtual space, works to improve the musculoskeletal system of patients, overcome pain syndrome and phantom pains, and also train the brain and nervous system.

Advin is working on implementing a VR simulator in medical centers. According to them, the Nezlamni center in Lviv, Modrychi in Lviv region, and City Hospital No. 4 in Dnipro have already expressed readiness to include technology in rehabilitation programs.

How does it work?

The company states that by strategically positioning sensors on the patient's body, they can control the movements of a 3D avatar seamlessly. Their clinical trials have demonstrated a significant improvement in patients' motor function by 20% and a reduction of phantom pain by 41% through VR therapy.

The simulator has several virtual environments for rehabilitation: a training room, a gym, and a kitchen. By the end of 2024, they also promise to complete the development of the function of rafting on the Dnipro River with the help of VR.

^{Photo: The Village}

Positive effects of therapy:

• Increased range of motion in the joints.
• Improvement of the neuromuscular system and movement control.
• Adaptation to environmental changes during walking of patients with neurological disorders.
• Reduction of pain syndrome.
• Improving overall coordination.
• Recovery of cognitive skills.

The company assures that they have already received a certificate of compliance at the end of 2023. The VR simulator is already working in Dnipro's "Path to Health" rehabilitation center. The developer plans to make the project part of state rehabilitation protocols.