Researchers of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) have joined forces developing technology for vestibular system disorders diagnosis and research. This is the first technology, which is portable and using virtual reality.
According to the LSMU Professor Ingrida Ulozienė, dizziness is a very common health disorder, experienced by both young and older people.
“Strong systemic dizziness, followed by imbalance, nausea, paleness and perspiration interferes with human activities and can cause great anxiety. If the condition persists, the quality of life, mood and work efficiency suffers. Sometimes dizziness can be a symptom of more serious diseases. Unfortunately, the condition is relatively difficult to diagnose”, says Ulozinė.
An innovative technology developed by the research team of KTU and LSMU universities is a convenient, inexpensive and portable device, which allows diagnosing dizziness in a simple way. The device is Myo armband, controlled by hand movements and based on Samsung Gear VR software.
“We had to implement the technical solution of connecting the virtual reality programme, and make all the different systems to efficiently communicate between each other using different programming languages and environments”, says Tomas Blažauskas, associate professor at KTU Faculty of Informatics.
The researchers of KTU Institute of Biomedical Engineering were also collaborating in the project.
“Our system is portable, uses virtual reality and is controlled by movements. This is the first and so far the only technology of a kind in Lithuania. There are different systems created in other countries, but they are fixed and do not use virtual reality”, says Vaidotas Marozas researcher at KTU Institute of Biomedical Engineering.
The innovative technology is now being tested with healthy volunteers. The next step will be testing it with patients, which will take place in the nearest future.
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