Виртуальная реальность в медицине - статья Times; с русскими "подсказками"

The latest trend in medicine - virtual reality
Doctors are now using the technology to treat (для лечения) many disorders (мед.:нарушений), from phobias (фобий) to addictions (физических зависимостей)
Imagine the scenario: you're sitting on a plane, strapped in (пристегнуты ремнем безопасности) and ready for take-off (взлету). But you're terrified of flying (ужасно боитесь летать) and are suddenly hit by an uncontrollable urge (внезапно настигнуты неконтролируемым позывом) to spring (вскочить) from your seat and run screaming (с криками) out of the aircraft (самолета).
However, at that moment, a soothing (успокаивающий) voice speaks to you - the voice of your therapist - telling you to try using your various coping strategies (различные стратегии преодоления [фобии]). The scene around you then disappears (исчезает), you remove the headset (снимаете наушники) and you're returned to the safety and tranquillity (безопасность и спокойствие) of the therapist's office in which you're sitting.
Although virtual reality (VR), or computer-simulated environments (моделируемое с помощью компьютера окружение), sound like a premise (предпосылка/замысел/идея) that would excite (привела бы в эмоциональное возбуждение) only computer geeks (компьютерных фанатов) and Star Trek fans (см http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=star+trek) , doctors and scientists are increasingly using it to treat a range of disorders (для лечения ряда расстройств), from fear of public speaking (боязнь публичных выступлений) and flying, to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (пост-травматический стресс) in soldiers returning from Iraq. And, in the past few weeks, scientists have reported that it can also be used to treat drink and drug addictions (зависимостей), and even to help people give up smoking.
“With virtual reality we can bring a version of the real world into the clinic. We can help people test out their fears (страхи) and practise different ways of coping (преодоления). They can take the confidence gained (уверенность, приобретенную) in VR into the real world,” says Dr Daniel Freeman, a clinical psychologist at King's College London, who is investigating (исследующий) whether the technology can be used to treat paranoia.
In a study recently reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry, he sent 200 volunteers (добровольцев) on a virtual reality ride on the London Underground (в виртуальную поездку в лондонском метро), in a carriage full of computer-generated passengers (вагоне, полном сгенерированными компьютером пассажирами). He discovered (обнаружил) that 40 per cent of the volunteers experienced (испытали) paranoid or suspicious thoughts (мнительность/подозрительность). One of the female volunteers said: “I felt trapped (чувствовала себя в ловушке) between two men in the doorway (в дверях),” despite (не смотря на то, что) the men being computer characters (компьютерные персонажи). Now that Dr Freeman has shown that VR can generate paranoia feelings (вызывать параноидные мысли), he is hoping to use it in the therapy process.
Overcoming (преодоление) a fear of flying
Dr Page Anderson, a psychologist at Georgia State University, has used VR technology to help people overcome their fears of flying and public speaking. “The gold-standard treatment (лучшее лечение) for people with phobias is exposure (подвергание [страху]), which is, basically, facing your fears (столкновение со страхом лицом к лицу). Repeating an exposure in the real world is hard to do, as flying over and over again would get expensive. However, if you do it virtually, you can, for example, do take-offs many times.”
Dr Anderson's study indicated (исследование показало) that the patients who use VR therapy did as well as those treated with real-life flying (достигали тех же результатов, что и [пациенты], лечение которых проходило в условиях реальных полетов). So why use VR? “Facing fears in a virtual world is much more appealing (привлекательно) than facing them in real-life,” says Dr Anderson. “This may make treatment more accessible (доступным).” For patients with a fear of public speaking, she can make the audience look bored, talk among themselves, raise hands, or fall asleep («заставить» аудиторию скучать, болтать, поднимать руки, засыпать). She can even make virtual mobile phones ring mid-talk (в середине речи).
So how do researchers send patients into the virtual world? The equipment looks slightly comical (слегка комично). The seated patient (сидящий пациент) wears a headset (гарнитуру) with a visor (защитной маской/забралом) in which they see the virtual world. Built-in headphones (встроенные наушники) deliver sounds and block out ambient noise (окружающие шумы). The chair is placed on a vibrating platform, and smells are delivered through an electronic scent machine (запахи создаются с помощью электронного генератора запахов). The patient is immersed (погружается) in the sight («картинки»), sounds, smells of the virtual world. The therapist sits beside the patient in front of a screen, through which he or she can see exactly what the subject sees. The therapist can speak through a microphone wired into (подсоединенный к) the patient's headphones.
Does it resemble (напоминает) a video game?
While for years virtual reality has been blighted(омрачалась) by laughably poor graphics (до смешного слабой графикой) and a distinct lack (очевидным отсутствием) of realism, the technology has improved (улучшилась/усовершенствовалась) recently. But there is still a long way to go (но предстоит еще много достичь). Can patients really treat (отнестись к) something that looks like a cheap video game with any seriousness? Yes, according to Dr Anderson, who has had patients cry and suffer panic attacks (пациенты которого плакали и испытывали приступы паники) on virtual flights.
According to Mel Slater, a professor of virtual environments at University College London, virtual worlds are good enough to fool your brain into thinking they are real (чтобы обманом заставить мозг поверить в их реальность). “When you go into one of these virtual-reality environments everything is lifesize (в натуральную величину/естественно). The characters are good enough for a level of the brain to think ‘OK, this is happening, so let's make the normal response' (реакцию), despite (хотя) your higher consciousness (сознание) knowing it's not real.” Slater saw this effect in action (этот эффект в действии) when he conducted (провел) an experiment in which volunteers were put into a virtual world where a fire broke out (начался пожар). The virtual characters started to run out of the building and many of the volunteers leapt out of their seat, as if to leave (выпрыгнули из кресел, словно собираясь бежать).
Treating traumatised soldiers
Virtual worlds have also been used to help soldiers recover from PTSD. Dr Josh Spitalnick is the director of research at Virtually Better, an Atlanta-based company, which has pioneered (вступила первопроходцем) much VR technology. “In PTSD, the fears typically manifest (проявляются) as nightmares (кошмары) or, in daytime, daydreams (грезы). For example, if someone smells the fumes of gasoline (чувствует пары бензина), that will take them back to being in a war. They could be shopping, smell gasoline and freak out (отключиться от реальности),” he says.
A Virtual Iraq program is being used at a number of hospitals in the US. Further, researchers at Emory University, Atlanta, are 18 months into a five-year state-funded study (уже 18 месяцев ведут спонсируемое государством исследование) of using the technology to treat PTSD sufferers. Soldiers are assessed (солдаты проходят оценку) before starting the treatment to check that the experience won't overwhelm them (не сокрушит их окончательно) or prove harmful (окажется вредным).
Dr Maryrose Gerardi, one of the researchers, says: “Some of the veterans say ‘It just looks like a video game' until we start doing the work, and then it doesn't seem like a video game any more.” She continues: “Virtual reality seems to be helpful in dealing with painful memory (помогает справиться с болезненными воспоминаниями), as you go over and over the memory. We're teaching them not to be afraid of it.”
Recently scientists at the University of Houston reported that VR was useful for treating addictions, from alcohol and tobacco to marijuana and crack cocaine. “We can put you in a virtual-reality party and the therapist can teach you skills (навыкам) to use in that situation, to avoid drinking or smoking,” says Dr Patrick Bordnick, who led the research.
The next big thing?
Widely used in the US, virtual-reality technology is mainly used in research in the UK - although it is available at a few private clinics. Why is this? “The use of VR is at the early stages of taking off (популяризации) in the UK. The expertise (экспертные знания) has not yet been fully developed here,” says Dr Freeman. Dr Spitalnick believes that technophobia is another barrier (еще одно препятствие). “There are computer people in the health industry, then there is the other (остальные) 95 per cent,” he says. But, despite this, all those involved in the area of virtual reality believe that it has real therapeutic potential. “Once the word gets round, through more scientific publications, I think take-up is inevitable (популяризация неизбежна) because it is such a good application (применение) for this field,” says Slater. He even sees it one day having leisure applications and being used to create “holodecks”, leisure rooms (комнаты для досуга) in which humans can interact (взаимодействовать) with holograms in fantasy role play (ролевых играх), as seen on Star Trek.
“I can well imagine in the home of the future a room with a virtual-reality environment where you go to relax, with a virtual beach and sun lamp. Star Trek predicted mobile phones, so why not the holodeck?”
Other conditions that scientists treat with virtual reality (VR) technology:
Binge-eating (обжорство) By interacting with food in a virtual world, patients learn to control appetite.
Pain VR can distract (отвлекать) adults and children when they're undergoing minor surgery (мелкие хирургические вмешательства).
Stroke Scientists are investigating whether VR can help to retrain the brains of stroke victims (жертв инсульта).
Burns Scientists have developed SnowWorld, a snowy VR world that can help to ease burn victims' pain.