Virtual Reality Transforms Assessment of Patients With Upper Limb Movement Challenges

Shriners Children’s is a pediatric healthcare system for orthopedic, spine, and burn injuries, as well as other specialty care and rehabilitation. Shriners provides treatment for nearly 20,000 children and families from over 130 countries around the world with one mission: compassionate, innovative care that improves the quality of life for children and their families. As part of its research mission, Shriners Children's collaborates with academic and industry partners to develop leading tools, processes, and programs that improve pediatric care. 

Georgia Tech’s Pediatric Innovation Network (PIN) has collaborated with Shriners Children’s since 2017. The initiative connects researchers — including engineers, data analysts, scientists, and others — with frontline pediatric clinicians to create new technologies for unmet pediatric healthcare needs. This dynamic collaboration began with a conversation between Marc Lalande, vice president of research at Shriners’ Children’s, and Leanne West, chief engineer of pediatric technologies at Georgia Tech, who were introduced by a mutual colleague. 

That conversation has resulted in 22 projects to date, spanning topics such as artificial intelligence, data management, robotic exoskeletons, augmented reality games, wearable sensors, and more. The collaboration between Shriners Children’s and GT PIN works to engage faculty and students within Georgia Tech’s cutting-edge research ecosystem and multiple hospitals within Shriners’ network.

“From the very beginning, this has been an amazing collaboration. Our faculty love working on the real-world problems brought to us by Shriners’ clinicians,” said West.

Learn more about one of these projects on how virtual reality is transforming assessment of patients with upper limb movement challenges.