The Pulse

Pulse the Nov. 2010 • www.chp.cmich.edu • The Herbert H. & Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions CMU team develops virtual reality therapy A national service Traumatic brain injuries have become a signature wound of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, affecting thousands of soldiers. To help address new treatment options for this growing concern, Central Michigan University students and faculty are taking the lead on a $390,000 grant supported by the U.S. Department of Defense to design virtual reality gaming therapy that will help soldiers rehabilitate from these injuries. Traumatic brain injuries can result when shock waves from roadside bombs ripple through soldiers' brains, causing damage that may leave no visible injuries but can cause mental and physical impairment. "Virtual reality is a relatively new form of rehabilitation, and we will be designing a series of immersive 3-D games to help soldiers work on both motor and cognitive abilities, " says CMU physical therapy professor Ksenia Ustinova, principal investigator on the grant. "We are very pleased to be working with the Department of Defense on this important initiative. " Completed CMU research will lead to free online service for soldiers Performing actions repetitively in a virtual sense helps soldiers naturally retrain and recondition muscles to coordinate similar to how they did before their injuries. The CMU team, which consists of faculty, staff and students from CMU' s physical therapy program – as well as those from CMU's computer science, information technology and psychology departments – are using equipment such as an 82-inch 3D television, a laptop computer and a motion capture system to create a virtual environment for research subject participants. The first series of virtual reality games is scheduled for development by December. The CMU team is currently reaching out to soldiers with a range of traumatic brain injuries to give them the opportunity to be the first to use the rehabilitation equipment. Those soldiers will use and test the virtual treatment through next spring. Once this research is complete, CMU faculty and staff will make necessary changes and enhancements to get the series up and running – and available for free by computer download. CMU physical therapy student Amanda Schafer of Westphalia says she feels fortunate to have a hands-on role in this research. "We might be a part of something really big here – and affecting thousands of lives for the better. " • pulse • November 2010 1 CMU physical therapy faculty member Ksenia Ustinova works with her research team. They are charged with developing gaming software that potentially could help soldiers living with traumatic brain injuries.

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