Developing VR for rehabilitation together with the leading experts.
TOKYO, Dec. 14, 2021 — Jolly Good Inc. (“Jolly Good”), in collaboration with Aichi Medical University Hospital’s Pain Center (“Aichi Medical University”), the first interdisciplinary treatment and research facility for pain in Japan, will research the efficacy of VR therapy for chronic pain.
Professor Takahiro Ushida, one of Japan’s leading experts in pain treatment, will collaborate in this research. This research will be conducting multifaceted research on the use of VR in diverse situations, such as rehabilitation of patients, to develop VR therapy for chronic pain. Professor Ushida has represented Japan in the revision of the definition of pain by the International Association for the Study of Pain.
- Outline of Joint Research
In the first phase of this research, Jolly Good and Aichi Medical University plan to study the development of rehabilitation therapy using VR for people with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), post-stroke pain, and other conditions that cause pain or fear of movement.
- Pain Center at Aichi Medical University Hospital (https://www.aichi-med-u.ac.jp/su10/su1008/)
Aichi Medical University Hospital’s Pain Center was established as Japan’s first interdisciplinary pain treatment and research facility, dedicated to the principle that management of pain should be addressed beyond the boundaries of departments and disciplines.
Here, experts from different departments and disciplines work together to provide interdisciplinary treatment. The Pain Center also works on clarifying basic pain mechanisms and developing treatments.
- Comments from Professor Takahiro Ushida of the Pain Center at Aichi Medical University Hospital
“Most patients who visit our Pain Center suffer from pain for a long time, and they have difficulty leading their daily lives. Although the determination of the pain source and treatment is essential, chronic pain cases are complicated. Due to the vicious cycle (pain experience → anxiety → change in lifestyle → worsening of pain), negative experiences remain deep in the patient’s brain and body, which greatly strengthen the symptoms.
We think that rehabilitation using virtual reality can induce and accumulate successful experiences, which could improve physical condition and pain. This collaborative research will develop a new treatment for chronic pain by combining our clinical knowledge with Jolly Good’s ultra-realistic VR technology.”
- VR Digital Therapy (VRDTx) (https://vrdtx.com/)
In April 2020, Jolly Good established the DTx Division, a specialized team for developing digital therapies that include psychiatrists and pharmaceutical strategy specialists, among others. Building upon the base of the VRDTx system, Jolly Good will expand its pipeline to multiple mental illnesses and lifestyle-related diseases and will develop its digital therapies business both in Japan and overseas.
- About Jolly Good Inc. (https://jollygood.co.jp/)
Jolly Good is a medical technology company that develops high-precision VR solutions and AI-based medical and welfare services that analyze user behavior in the VR space. Using technologies such as VR and AI, the company is accelerating human growth and social rehabilitation in medical education, support for persons with disabilities, treatment of mental illness, as well as developing services to support the evolution of medical care and finding purposes in life, in collaboration with various research institutions and companies.
