An Integrated System Combining Virtual Reality with a Glove with Biosensors for Neuropathic Pain: A Concept Validation

Spinal cord injuries are among the most traumatic situations, having relevant repercussions on an individual’s occupation performance. Although loss of functionality is considered to be the most significant consequence, neuropathic pain can determine an individual’s inability to return to daily activities. Therefore, it is imperative to develop new technologies with significant impact on the rehabilitation process of the spinal cord injuries. VR4NeuroPain combines virtual reality with a glove “GNeuroPathy”, covered with a variety of biosensors, that allows for the collection of physiological parameters and motor stimulation. The main purpose of this paper is to describe the system VR4NeuroPain, and to validate the “GNeuroPathy” concept. With that in mind, and after calibrating the VR4NeuroPain system using with a group of 16 individuals, the validation results showed that “GNeuroPathy” was comfort, accessibility in place and the collection of physiological parameters was performed as expected.

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