April 21, 2013 | Read Time: 1 minute
One common way doctors measure pain in children is to ask them to select a face from a spectrum of faces that go from happy and smiling to sad and frowning. But physicians at Children’s National Medical Center have created video games to measure and monitor pain more objectively.
The games are designed to elicit specific movements, which are measured using infrared technology and allow doctors to determine a patient’s range of motion and functional limitations.
“We’re able to measure the angle at which the limb is held, which has all kinds of diagnostic implications,” says Julia Finkel, principal investigator at the center’s Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.
Using the video game gives doctors a lot more information than they would otherwise have, she says. During a traditional exam, she says, “you eyeball it or you use devices like a protractor to measure it at a single point, but not through a continuous movement.”
The next step is to develop video games patients can use at home to supplement or even take the place of physical therapy, says Dr. Finkel.
“Normally the more you do physical therapy, the better it is,” she says. “And getting kids to comply is not a small matter.”
For more information: Go to innovationinstitute.childrensnational.org.
