Unit Four: MedTech + Art

Gromala walking through a VR simulation

I think what Diane Gromala had to say about using biofeedback and virtual reality as a way to combat chronic pain was absolutely fascinating. I have looked into biofeedback myself and although I have never received this treatment I remember being very interested in the process. There are biofeedback specialists in Seattle that work with people who are unable to stop registering pain signals from an area of the body, even if that area is not hurt. This can often come as a result of preexisting injury or illness.The doctors attach sensors to the patient to track indicators of stress and pain through brain waves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. The sensors are then hooked up to screens so the patients can see how their body is reacting to stimuli or thought. The doctors have their patients look at their individual data and use visual cues to coach the patient into a state of reduced stress and use it to retrain the brain to stop registering phantom pain signals. They are trying to break the stress-pain loop the patients have formed.

One of Gromala's VR simulations for chronic pain

I also greatly appreciated the body code animations. I am a psychobiology major and am currently taking the LS7 series. Videos like the one I have attached have been used by my professors and I use them to study on my own occasionally. Animations that show the inside of the human body, particularly those display microbiological systems, are so helpful to students because it shows them what is happening in real time rather than trying to imagine it all through lecture and reading. Seeing the information presented this way make it much more understandable and memorable and I think it can advance the rate at which people understand the human body.

Sources:

Berry, Drew . "Chromosome and Kinetochore | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research." Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research | Discoveries for humanity. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 2013. Web. <http://www.wehi.edu.au/wehi-tv/chromosome-and-kinetochore>.

Berry, Drew . "Insulin Production and Type 1 Diabetes - YouTube." YouTube. 26 Aug 2009. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYvav8aDGCc&t=30s>.

"Canada Research Chair - Profile." Canada Research Chairs | Chaires de recherche du Canada. 26 Nov 2013. Web. <http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=2457>.

"Cora Collette Breuner | Seattle Children'€™s Hospital." Seattle Children's Hospital: World-Class Child Healthcare | Seattle Children's Hospital. Seattle Children's Hospital, Web. <http://www.seattlechildrens.org/medical-staff/Cora-Collette-Breuner/>.

Del Pozo, Jessica. "Biofeedback." Institute for Chronic Pain | Ideas that are Changing Pain. Institute for Chronic Pain, Web. <http://www.instituteforchronicpain.org/treating-common-pain/what-is-pain-management/biofeedback>.

"Diane Gromala Exhibition | UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab." Home Page | UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab. UCLA Art | Sci Center, Web. <http://artsci.ucla.edu/events/diane-gromala-exhibition>.

"Diane Gromala - School of Interactive Arts and Technology - Simon Fraser University." SFU.ca - Simon Fraser University. Simon Fraser University, 5 Oct 2016. Web. <http://www.sfu.ca/siat/about/siat_spotlight/DianeGromala.html>.

Gromala, Diane . "TEDxAmericanRiviera - Diane Gromala - Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty - YouTube." YouTube. 29 Sep 2013. Web. 7 Dec 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdarMz--Pw>.