디지털치료제(DTx)기반 가상현실치료(VRT) 유형 및 특성 연구 - VR 콘텐츠 대표 사례를 중심으로 -

Abstract

(Background and Purpose) Due to COVID-19, the digital transformation of medical treatment is urgently needed, and the concepts of virtual reality therapy (VRT) and digital therapeutics (DTx) have emerged. However, research on the characteristics of representative cases of VR content is still insufficient. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the types and characteristics of VRT contents based on DTx. (Method) First, the basis for classification of types through related literature reviews is self-disclosure and neural plasticity, which reveal the nature and advantages of VRT. The classifications include exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which are based on medical treatment theory. Exposure therapy is sub-classified into real-life, imaginal, and interoceptive exposure treatment approaches, and CBT is sub-classified into present-consciousness, problem-identification, and self-treatment stages. (Results) The real-life exposure method reduces, for example, the intensity and degree of special fears and phobias by inducing an illusion of a real situation through repeated exposure to a patient by providing a variety of environments and items that induce specific fears, with audiovisual elements. Imaginal exposure provides the physical freedom to choose a treatment site for oneself to calm an unstable mind by providing visual, auditory, and olfactory experiences of a natural environment. Interoceptive exposure trains visual sensory organs of a patient with visual field disorders caused by brain damage with induced motion images to promote visual organ movement; the treatment excludes decorative elements other than the intended image. Meanwhile, in the presentconsciousness stage of CBT, a patient selects a desired treatment and confirms his/her awareness and willingness to receive treatment. In the problem-identification stage, patients learn the physiological flow of the cause of pain by looking at the human body diagram and then narration, and then confirming the cause by themselves. In the self-treatment stage, pain relaxation practice can be performed like a game, leading to continuous self-treatment. (Conclusions) Overall, exposure therapy has the therapeutic properties of reducing and overcoming pain through stimulus exposure by maximizing the various sensory experiences felt in VR regardless of the patient's will. On the other hand, CBT greatly compensates for the shortcomings of non-face-to-face treatment in that it induces self-treatment through a process of self-awareness so that it can recognize the treatment on its own and check the treatment process. In addition, regardless of the type of treatment, it converges multi-sensory experiences as an aspect of the sensory expansion provided by VR, and provides richer treatment experiences then conventional treatments.