September 24, 2020 – XRHealth, a provider of therapeutic extended reality (XR) solutions, has recently announced a new virtual reality (VR) therapy application for people with ADHD. The application is aimed to improve well known ADHD cognitive functioning such as attention, impulsivity and higher, more complex thinking functions such as: initiating, organizing, planning and fully executing daily tasks. The company stated that its VR solution closely monitors user progress based on sustained focus while distractions are present.
According to XRHealth, a new policy from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enables clinicians to prescribe VR therapy for patients with ADHD during the COVID-19 public health emergency as an adjunct to clinician-supervised outpatient treatment. The VR training solution is based on the ‘brain plasticity’ principle, which is the brain’s ability to restructure itself in an attempt to overcome existing challenges. The application uses cognitive principles that have shown to be effective in the research field in facilitating this process. To further enhance its effectiveness, the application allows clinicians to create, monitor, and adjust the training process at every step.
In every training session a user-adaptive mechanism, backed by eye-tracking technology, is available to allow clinicians to adjust the task difficulty level in accordance with a patient’s ability. This mechanism is meant to challenge patients and constantly motivate them to enhance their performance XRHealth stated.
“Our training method is able to help a child or adult brain better cope with ADHD,” said Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth. “The interactive nature of the therapy is able to give clinicians critical measurements of improved concentration and attention span as well as reduced impulsivity.”
Clinicians using the XRHealth VR training method can prescribe the number and length of VR therapy sessions for each individual ADHD patient. According to the company, some of the application’s core advantages, include:
- Motor activation: The XRHealth application intertwines motor and cognitive activity into an integrated digital, clinically monitored training program, to assist ADHD sufferers who experience issues with both cognitive and motor abilities;
- Relatable experiences: The visual and auditory experience mimics real life activity to improve motor movement;
- Clinical monitoring: The application provides clinicians with comprehensive, detailed and precise information about patient performance and improvement during every session; and
- Integrated eye tracking technology: Provides unbiased, objective, and quantifiable data that can assist with patient assessment, training, and monitoring.
The therapeutic platform will be available to consumers later this year on the XRHealth website. XRHealth added that its platform is not intended to represent a substitution for a patient’s medication, and that any recommendations provided by its application are supportive in nature and should not be solely or primarily relied upon to treat ADHD.
For more information on XRHealth and its therapeutic XR solutions, click here.
Video credit: XRHealth / YouTube
About the author
Sam Sprigg
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.
