Virtual reality in concussion management: from lab to clinic

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly adopted in clinical settings for assessment and rehabilitation.
• Healthcare providers and researchers are actively exploring VR integration into clinical practice.
• Sport-related concussion (SRC) management is a key area where VR shows potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current literature on the application of virtual reality (VR) for the assessment of sport-related concussion (SRC).
• To explore the utility of VR in evaluating postural control and neuropsychological function post-SRC.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies investigating VR applications in SRC assessment.
• Analysis of VR-based postural control assessments.
• Evaluation of VR for neuropsychological testing in the context of SRC.

Main Results:

• VR-based postural control assessments indicate that visual motion can be destabilizing after SRC, even when clinical tests show recovery.
• VR assessments may reveal persistent perceptual-motion disintegration not detected by standard tests.
• Functional neuropsychological assessments using VR scenarios can be more sensitive than traditional methods.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality (VR) presents a promising advancement for the assessment of sport-related concussion (SRC).
• VR offers potentially more sensitive methods for evaluating postural control and neuropsychological deficits following SRC.
• VR applications may enhance the detection of subtle, persistent impairments after concussion.