Smileyscope is a virtual reality device for children that recently received FDA approval. It helps reduce the pain of blood draws or IVs by sending the user on an underwater adventure that begins with a greeting from the animated penguin Poggles. In this aquatic reality, the touch of an alcohol wipe turns into cool waves washing the hand. And the prick of a needle becomes the gentle touch of a fish.
Studies show that the device works. In two clinical trials involving more than 200 children ages 4 to 11, Smileyscope reduced pain levels by 60% and anxiety by 40%.
But how the Smileyscope works isn’t entirely clear. It’s more complicated than just distracting. Back in the 1960s, Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall proposed that pain signals pass through a series of “gates” in SMS Gateway Brunei the spinal cord that let some impulses through to the brain and block others. When the brain is busy with other stimuli, the gates close and fewer pain signals can pass through.
“And that’s how virtual reality works,” says Paul Leong, chief medical officer and co-founder of Smileyscope.
Not all stimuli are equally effective. “In traditional virtual reality, you put on a headset and go somewhere, like the beach,” Leong says. But such an immersive experience has nothing to do with what happens in the real world.
Smileyscope aims to reframe stimuli in a positive light, as mood and anxiety can also influence pain perception.
Before the procedure begins, Poggles the penguin explains it in detail to the children, which can reduce anxiety. And experiencing an underwater adventure with “unexpected visitors” is definitely a much better mood booster than staring at hospital walls while waiting for an injection.
“There are lots of ways to distract people,” says Beth Darnall, a psychologist and director of the Stanford Pain Innovation Lab. But the way Smileyscope does it, she says, is “really powerful.”
Scientists have been working on similar technologies for years. Hunter Hoffman and David Patterson of the University of Washington developed a virtual game called SnowWorld more than two decades ago to help people with severe burns endure dressing changes and other painful procedures.
