Every year thousands of children undergo CT -- and many will undergo anesthesia -- which they and their relatives can find stressful. Dr. Adriano Tachibana, PhD, of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in SĂ£o Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues explored the concept of "digital personalized ambiance of the CT room" to aid interaction with patients and, where appropriate, provide distraction.
"Our focus here is the improvement of patient experience around the CT exam through an immersive augmented reality characterization of the scanner site," the authors wrote in the study's abstract.
The project involved creating designs, scenes, and a script by the 3D animation team with characters chosen to appeal to young children. Analysis showed patients and parents responded very positively. In a satisfaction survey of 14 patients, 13 (92.8%) considered the environment "pleasant" and 10 (71.4%) reported a feeling of "tranquility."
On the satisfaction scale, the average was 9.4 out of 10 and 100% of respondents reported that they preferred the personalized environment "with ambiance," according to the researchers.
Stop by this Wednesday talk to learn more about the benefits of AR.