Viewing archives for Uncategorized
CPNN+ Neurotechnology & Pain Workshop
This interdisciplinary workshop will include talks from various guest speakers, poster presentations and two interactive workshops to explore the promises and pitfalls of neuromodulation in chronic pain research. For more details, please visit https://cpnn.ac.uk/activity/workshop
1st Oxford Health BRC Pain Conference: From Theory to Practice
The Oxford team hosted a very successful conference at Lady Margaret Hall. The meeting was organised by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), in collaboration with several other of the national BRC’s and CPNN+. This brought together researchers and patients to discuss the latest progress on the development of new therapies for chronic pain. Look out for a similar conference next year!
Virtual Reality in Healthcare
With 35 attendees, the above event was held on Wednesday 17th April 2024, and covered a morning on virtual reality in Healthcare at the University of Cardiff. Our Co-Applicant (Valerie Sparkes) opened the event and also presented on ‘Multimodal approaches used in Virtual Reality for LBP – How do we know what works?’. The event also included speakers; Juan Hernandez Vega presenting on the ‘Human-robot interaction, and collaboration via multimodal immersive interfaces’ & Soumya Barathi presenting on ‘Exergaming’ (Exercise controlled gaming). Mohammed Alghamdi from Cardiff’s School of Healthcare Sciences (pictured), presented on ‘Why use immersive virtual reality for chronic pain?’, along with a closing workshop held by Mohammad Al Amri (School of Healthcare Sciences).
APDP annual conference 2024
This year’s conference will build on new and established collaborations, sharing knowledge and bringing together diverse perspectives across the broad range of disciplines and stakeholder groups. The academic programme will include Elevator Pitches (short presentations of key outputs from APDP community members) linked to poster presentations, plenary lecture, and workshops on the following topics:
- Co-morbidity
- Pain in Childhood
- Technological solutions to pain
- Diversity amongst people with pain
- Cohorts
For more information and to register your place, please visit https://apdp.community/event/advanced-pain-discovery-platform-annual-conference-2024/
Registration closes on 17th April 2024.
BrainBox – Satellite workshop
We are delighted to have BrainBox attend our upcoming 2 day event on 2nd July 2024 at Exeter University. BrainBox will be providing an afternoon workshop on an ‘Introduction to Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation’ For more information & to register your interest, please visit their website https://brainbox-initiative.com/workshops/introduction-to-non-invasive-brain-stimulation-workshop Please be aware that spaces are limited and competitive for this workshop! For more information about our ‘Neurotechnology & Pain’ event, please visit https://cpnn.ac.uk/activity/workshop/
UKRI Innovate UK Neurotechnology Conference
Innovate UK Business Connect hosted a neurotechnology conference, with the aim of bringing together innovators in the neurotechnology field. It was a great opportunity to hear about the latest innovations in neurotechnology, and network with those developing neurotechnologies in sectors such as health and gaming. Our network P.I (Ben Seymour) also presented CPNN+ to all attendees. For a full agenda from the day and a list of the guest speakers, please visit https://web-eur.cvent.com/event/d20349d8-8a56-457b-bc92-91246fc0a877/websitePage:0c244e61-58f6-4b7f-b27d-a5ae29dd8707
CPNN+ awards four successful applicants
Advertised initially via our ‘Opportunities’ page, we have since awarded the following four ECR’s. Please see a summary of each project below.
Nature-based Analgesia and Chronic Low-Back Pain: A Role for Immersive Virtual Reality?
Exposure to nature has a myriad of health benefits from mental health and wellbeing to pain amelioration. The benefits to pain, specifically chronic, have yet to be explored in real depth. Understanding the mechanisms through which nature can be leveraged for chronic pain may improve therapeutic options in the future. This project aims to develop a nature based virtual reality intervention for chronic low back pain patients using a mixed methods co-design approach. Specifically, we aim to: 1) To understand and quantify the unmet clinical needs of the chronic low-back pain community, and to work with members of that community in exploring potential treatments, programmes or interventions using immersive nature-based VR technologies [phase 1]. 2) To co-design a VR intervention with members of the chronic low-back pain community using existing environmental psychology theory and anticipated impact on symptom profiles [phase 2]. 3) To develop a working nature-based VR intervention using real world 360 degree immersive videos based on extensive patient co-design [phase 3]. Through developing this patient informed working prototype of a novel VR intervention, we will then be able to start testing the therapeutic effects in follow on studies beyond the scope of this funding period.
Exploring the Use of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) for the Treatment of Chronic Back Pain (CBP) – Patient perspectives and expectations.
The value of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in developing meaningful outcome measures is increasingly recognised within chronic pain research. Our proposal is to explore the perceptions and expectations in participants arising from the use of immersive virtual reality (IVR) to manipulate pain in people suffering from moderate to severe chronic low back pain (CBP). An IVR/CBP study is currently running which will investigate the mechanisms by which pain improvement occurs with IVR. In our PPIE sub-study we will focus on participant perceptions and experiences of this novel intervention, which are important to any future developments of IVR and its role in managing CBP. We will utilise both standard and novel questionnaires to gage pre and post IVR intervention responses from 40 participants, documenting their current understanding and expectations from the IVR technology and its impact on their CBP. We also intend to examine whether certain patient characteristics, such as anxiety, fear avoidance, or catastrophizing impact upon the response to IVR as a therapy. The main objective of our project is to ensure that due importance is given to the voice of the end user in this novel intervention.
Patient-informed development of a personalized virtual reality intervention for body representation distortion and chronic pain.
Our project will address technology development, treatment optimization, and user experience and acceptance for a personalized virtual reality (VR) rehabilitation tool for chronic upper limb pain. Our tool uses hand-tracking technology to allow patients to embody virtual upper limbs with different appearances. Previous research has demonstrated some success in treating chronic pain by using illusions to change the appearance of the painful hand. We aim to allow a more immersive and personalized experience, and to accommodate a broader range of desired limb appearance. Our objectives are to:
1. Develop a VR tool that will enable a person without VR programming expertise to create a virtual limb that has the personalized desired appearance of a patient, and then allow the patient to embody that limb within the same session.
2. Explore patients’ perceptions and attitudes regarding current rehabilitation methods that alter body perception, and their requirements or concerns for personalized and VR-based rehabilitation methods.
3. Gather and implement patient feedback on our VR rehabilitation approach, including preferences about the specific visual limb manipulations and factors influencing the acceptability of the VR tool.
4. Work with patients to understand what information should be conveyed to users of the VR tool, and how that can best be conveyed.
Creation of a National Co-Development Hub for Therapeutic Digital Health Interventions in Chronic Pain.
Digital health interventions, including virtual reality, offer new avenues for chronic pain management. However, solutions frequently lack effective co-design with patients, potentially resulting in ineffective or even harmful applications. This gap often arises from limited co-design expertise, poor access to individuals with lived experience and lack of structured collaboration among stakeholders. Currently, no UK-based organisations focus specifically on facilitating such co-development. This application aims to address this problem by establishing a UK Co-Development Hub to support those developing digital therapeutics in chronic pain. The hub’s objectives are three-fold:
1. Stakeholder Network Development: Create a cross-sector network of healthcare providers, academics, industry experts, and those with lived experience of chronic pain to foster collaboration and co-design.
2. Digital Platform Creation: Develop a user-friendly website as the hub’s central platform, featuring co-design resources and tools.
3. Co-design Framework: Create evidence-based guidelines and helpful toolkits to support co-development of digital therapeutics in chronic pain.
By offering a structured approach to co-development, the hub aims to catalyse the creation of effective, tailored digital interventions for chronic pain utilising human-centred design
Mind The Gap study with CPNN+ & NIHR Exeter Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)
Our P.I (Prof. Ben Seymour) and one of our co-investigators (Dr. Sam Hughes) have collaborated with Dr. Will Young (Project Lead), Dr. Gavin Buckingham & Dr. Sonia Medina – Hernandez (Translational Fellowship) on a new study using VR technology to understand the neurobiological mechanisms of chronic pain to develop effective treatments.
The team hope to improve our understanding of the brain’s role in chronic lower back pain (CLBP) and develop a new method to measure changes in symptoms and underlying causes after treatments. For more information, please visit https://www.exeterbrc.nihr.ac.uk/research-projects/mind-the-gap/
N-CODE Stakeholder-Led Study Group – April 2024
Venue: The Telford Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Sutton Heights, Telford, Shropshire, TF7 4DT
Dates: Monday 15th April (12:00 start) – Thursday 18th April (17:00 close) 2024. The deadline for applications is 16:00 (GMT) on Thursday 28th March 2024. For more information please visit: https://www.n-code.org/activity/n-code-stakeholder-led-study-group-april-2024/
Verity XR
VerityXR is excited to share news of our partnership with the esteemed University of Oxford. During a recent visit to the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford, our leadership team engaged in productive workshops with Prof. Ben Seymour, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, and his team. Together, we explored potential research projects aimed at deepening our understanding of pain and its effects on individuals. We extend our sincere gratitude to Prof. Ben Seymour and his team for their gracious hospitality. We are looking forward to joining forces with them on innovative and impactful research initiatives in the field of pain neuroscience.