A doctor in Glasgow has worked with an academic to develop a virtual reality training tool to help children and their parents manage better manage kidney dialysis at home.
Dr Ben Roberts teamed up with professor Vassilis Charisis at Edinburgh Napier University to develop an immersive experience to help patients make informed decisions about the most suitable type of dialysis for them.
The paediatric nephrologist at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow was inspired to use the VR goggles as a mode for patient education after spending time gaming during the Covid pandemic.
He then secured funding from Kidney Research UK, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and support from the West of Scotland Innovation Hub – to prototype and develop the tech.
The health board now has three VR headsets for families and says the equipment is helping allay fears and anxieties around the dialysis procedure as they are able to try it out virtually before setting up the sessions in real life.
Dr Reynolds said: “During the pandemic I spent some time gaming and using virtual reality myself and quickly realised the potential it had to help train people in new processes.
“Dialysis can feel overwhelming for patients and families, particularly when they’re considering doing it at home, so we wanted to find a way to make the process clearer and less intimidating.
“The virtual reality experience allows people to see exactly what’s involved in a safe, realistic way, without any risk.”
He added: “We’ve found it helps to reduce anxiety and gives patients and families more confidence to make informed decisions about the type of dialysis that’s right for them.”
Dr Reynolds is now working with Prof Charisis, a virtual reality expert, to extend the technology for those considering at-home haemodialysis.
Both forms of dialysis involve the removal of waste and excess water from the blood in patients with kidney failure.
The virtual experience removes the risk to patients as there is no physical impact, and reduces the need for the use of dialysis equipment in training.
Amanda Flood’s seven-year-old son Peter was having dialysis for two years before he had a transplant just before his sixth birthday.
Peter was born with stage five renal failure and only about 10% kidney function because his bladder was blocked in the womb.
When the decision was made for him to go on dialysis, Amanda and her husband Graeme, who live in Aberdeen, were given training on administering dialysis to Peter at home.
They were able to use the virtual reality kit to get comfortable with the process before they were discharged from hospital and were doing it themselves.
Amanda, pictured below with Peter and Graeme, said: “I’d never used virtual reality for anything before so it was all new to us but the kit was amazing, and we were able to spend as long as we needed in Glasgow doing the training.
“It’s a very complex thing you’re getting trained to do – it’s basically your child’s lifeline – so the hospital staff were not going to discharge us until they were certain we could do it at home.”
She added: “There’s so much machinery and cables and bags of fluid involved, and learning how to set things up and do all the mixes yourself can be terrifying.
“But with the virtual reality kit you can try it out as many times as you like.”
Professor Vassilis Charisis said: “Emerging technologies such as virtual reality are no longer simply tools for the clinic or the training room – they are becoming the means to bring genuinely personalised, continuous care into people’s homes and lives. That, for me, is where their true transformative potential lies.
“This tool is the culmination of more than five years of co-design with clinicians, nurses, patients, and families.
“We believe it can significantly reduce training time, patient anxiety and the need for repeated hospital visits.”
