Virtual Reality tool aims to reduce sedation for child MRIs

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page

Ready Teddy is launching a VR game for kids to reduce the need for drugs like fentanyl, propofol and ketamine.

Ready Teddy, a healthcare technology startup, is transforming the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) experience for kids with the launch of their immersive virtual reality (VR) app. MRIs are an intimidating procedure for most people, let alone children. Dangerous sedatives like propofol, ketamine, and fentanyl are used in 49% of pediatric MRIs in order to help kids stay still enough to get a proper MRI scan. Sedation rates are even higher for children of color due to scarce translation services. A new virtual reality game, Ready Teddy, allows kids to go through a virtual MRI experience with the goal of reducing MRI anxiety and training kids to comply with the procedure without the need for sedatives. 

“Families really walk in blind, helping them manage stress is the number one priority.” said Analise Gammariello, a Child Life Specialist referring to the patient experience when dealing with MRIs. 

Max Orozco, neuroscience researcher and co-founder of Ready Teddy: “There is a huge disconnect between children’s understanding and the needs of a clinician. We are proud to launch a solution that is  able to connect with kids and gamify their comprehension of the procedure so they go into the MRI calm and prepared”. Orozco continues “A young person’s first several experiences with their doctors and medical procedures set the tone and expectation for every intervention after that. Our goal is to improve the process of getting an MRI in addition to changing the way we experience healthcare from the start.” 

Grounded in human-centered design, exposure therapies like Ready Teddy reduce the need to use drugs like propofol or fentanyl to sedate young children while increasing doctors’ ability to obtain quality scans. Research shows up to 30% of MRI data is unusable because the child moves too much. Depending on the age of the child, more than 50% (6-8 years old) are sedated in order to get quality images. Sedation can be particularly dangerous for children with chronic disease as frequent use of sedatives have been correlated with cognitive impairment. 

Influenced by successful play therapies, Ready Teddy walks the child through the sights and sounds of the MRI. Utilizing the same motion sensors that power a VR headset, biofeedback mini games measure head movement and provide audio/visual cues to the child when excessive movement has occured, thereby training the children to stay still within the threshold of a good clinician scan. Research shows on an annual basis, a conservative estimate is 100,000-150,000 children could completely avoid sedation during MRI exams with the utilization of preparatory interventions like Ready Teddy. 

Ready Teddy is a product of Lumeum Inc. a group of engineers and designers applying cutting edge technology to improve healthcare delivery. Experimenting with technologies including Computer Vision, DeepFakes, Virtual Reality, and Facial Recognition, Lumeum Inc. believes in creating empowering experiences that propel health and wellbeing forward.