Virtualware signs agreement with University of East Anglia to study the use of the VirtualRehab platform for stroke rehabilitation.
The agreement includes the funding of a three year PhD program to investigate the use of a virtual reality neurorehabilitation platform that uses gaming to enhance restoration of movement in stroke patients.
Virtualware has signed an agreement with the University of East Anglia’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in Norwich, UK to fund a studentship which will explore the use of a virtual reality neurorehabilitation platform in order to investigate the use of various gaming models to enhance restoration of movement in persons who have suffered a stroke.
The three year plan of investigation for the PhD will include working with service users and clinicians on product innovation and improvement and comparing the effects of the gaming environment to routine rehabilitation on change in movement neurophysiology and biomechanics.
The supervisory team are members of the Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Alliance (http://www.abira.ac.uk) and are linked to the NIHR Brain Injury Healthcare technology Cooperative (https://brainhtc.org). Dr. Niamh Kennedy will lead the project at the UEA, supported by Dr. Nicola Hancock and Professor Valerie Pomeroy.
David Fried, International Business Development director of VirtualRehab says “This is an outstanding opportunity for us to work with world-class investigators at the University of East Anglia who are at the forefront of investigating on how to improve stroke rehabilitation. Their enthusiasm and deep understanding of both the benefits and challenges of using technologies like VirtualRehab with stroke survivors, especially in their homes, will certainly be beneficial to us in terms of product development and ultimately clinical validation. We look forward to doing some cutting-edge work in the field of virtual rehabilitation with Dr. Kennedy and the UEA.