HypnoVR
HypnoVR founders: Anesthetists and hypnotherapists Dr. Denis Graff & Dr. Chloé Chauvin and digital expert and entrepreneur Nicolas Schaettel.
Strasbourg-based medical virtual reality specialist HypnoVR has concluded three successful clinical trials in medical hypnosis for the management of pain and anxiety in the fields of post-operative pain reduction, pediatric dentistry and medically assisted reproduction.
The first study was held at the Hospital Hautepierre in Strasbourg and took place over a six month period. HypnoVR was used with selected child patients in addition to standard pain management, as support for post-operative pain and to limit consumption of opiods following scoliosis surgery.
The 20-minute HypnoVR session took place once a day within the first 72 hours following surgery, with a control group receiving standard care. It was concluded that the group additionally treated with virtual reality hypnosis showed significantly lower need for supplemental treatment for anxiety and total post-operative opioid consumption, with a 45% reduction of post-operative morphine consumption over 72 hours. Recovery was also significantly faster during their hospital stay; patients’ bed-time was reduced by 21 hours.
The results were presented in October 2018 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiology.
The second clinical trial involved patients aged 9 years and over, undergoing dental procedures at the pediatric odontology unit of the University of Strasbourg. The young patients were selected and exposed to a VR immersion session featuring a natural environment. The anxiety level of pediatric patients was evaluated on the APAIS scale (The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale), with results showing the level of anxiety decreased by 45%, along with a high level of satisfaction, with an average score of 8 out of 10 from patients.
Results were presented in March 2018 at the Annual Meeting of the Société Française d'Odontologie Pédiatrique.
The third clinical study focused on alleviating pain and anxiety during ovocyte retrieval, a medically assisted reproduction procedure, at the University Hospital of Strasbourg, where HypnoVR was offered to patients as part of the standard anaesthetic care. During the medical procedure, 38 patients were exposed to a 20-minute VR immersion featuring a natural landscape and a soothing voice, in addition to the administration of low-level sedatives. Results show that 73.7% of patients felt “disconnected” and 89.4% of patients considered the VR headset provided additional comfort, with a high level of satisfaction (median rating of four on a scale 0 to 5).
Results were published in March 2019 at the Journée Francophone de l'Hypnose 2019.
“HypnoVR is delighted with the results of these three retrospective clinical studies. We are excited about further upcoming clinical trials that could show how promising our virtual reality technology is for pain and anxiety management in hospitals or for independent practitioners,” said Nicolas Schaettel, president and co-founder, HypnoVR. “We believe that in the future virtual reality hypnosis will become standard complementary care for addressing pain, stress and anxiety in hospitalised patients.”
The company is planning to launch additional randomised, multi-centric, prospective trials in 2019.
Around five billion people worldwide lack access to surgical and anesthetic care, most of whom are in lower income countries. HypnoVR’s medical device for hypnosedation aims to improve the quality of care and comfort for patients and to optimise pre- and post-operative rehabilitation by decreasing chemical therapy and its side effects, as well as lowering costs for healthcare institutions.
The company will expand scope of medical hypnosis research in 2019.
Back to Homepage
Back to Technology & Innovation