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Virtual reality at the CHU Caen Normandie to better experience its operation
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Innovation

Virtual reality at the CHU Caen Normandie to better experience its operation

For the past few weeks, the interventional cardiology department of the CHU Caen Normandie has had 2 virtual reality headsets provided by Deepsen, a company specializing in the design of digital therapies aimed at improving the physical and psychological comfort of the patient. These make it possible, before and during the operation, to reduce the pain, stress and anxiety of patients thanks to immersive and interactive videos.

Calming the patient before the procedure

For certain interventional rhythmology operations (pacemaker installation, defibrillator installation or atrial fibrillation ablation procedure), the patient can now benefit from a virtual reality headset.

Upstream of the intervention, this device makes it possible to reassure and explain to the patient how his course of care will unfold. He then evolves in the hospital where doctors and medical teams contact him to specify in detail the modalities of the intervention as well as the pre and post operative indications.

An intense immersion experience during the operation

During the intervention, the patient is also invited to choose a visual and auditory atmosphere which will be diffused in the helmet: the beach, the mountain, the lakes, etc. This immersion is accompanied by a voice that guides the breath, according to the principles of hypno-analgesia, in order to bring it to a state of deep relaxation. The patient remains lucid but barely perceives the stressful world of the operating room.

The benefits of the project

  • Lower the level of pre-operative anxiety of patients to improve operating comfort and minimize the risk of developing post-operative pain;
  • Minimize intolerance to uncertainty (fear of the unknown) for better acceptance of the procedure;
  • Allow local rather than general anesthesia to be preferred;
  • Provide better post-operative recovery;
  • Make care easier for caregivers because of a more serene patient.

A solution appreciated by patients

“Only 1 patient out of 10 refuses this device. The patient is more serene and lives the operation better, he leaves the hospital universe, he escapes and his pain is soothed”, testifies Gaëlle Hamon, executive of the cardiology department.

Information

The cardiology department takes care of coronary pathologies (coronary emergencies 24 hours a day) , rhythm and conduction disorders, heart failure and valvular, muscular and malformative pathologies for adults and children in the 3 departments of Western Normandy.

Communication department of Caen Normandy University Hospital
CHU Caen Normandy

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