Petteri Kolehmainen at Yle: Virtual reality (VR) can help chronic pain patients

In an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting company Yle, Petteri Kolehmainen, Managing Director Healthware Technology, and Sammeli Liikkanen, Director, Digital Medicine at Orion Corporation met up with journalist Simo Kymäläinen to talk about a new type of drug-free treatment that has been developed to help those suffering from chronic pain. Simo also had a chance to try out the "Rohkea" VR experience for himself.

Rohkea is a 12 week long cognitive behavioural therapy with physiotherapeutic activities to treat chronic back pain by Orion. Healthware, as the key R&D partner, has been supporting Orion to design and develop this novel treatment from the start. The efficacy and safety of the product have been demonstrated in a successful clinical trial.

Virtual Reality (VR) is rapidly emerging as a potential game-changer in the healthcare industry. It has the opportunity to revolutionize e.g. the way medical training is conducted, how patients receive treatment, and how mental health is addressed. And as Rohkea has shown, it can even be a treatment by itself.
Rohkea is a Digital Therapeutics (DTx) product. DTx has the potential to transform the healthcare industry by providing patients with accessible and effective treatments. These treatments can be used remotely, thus allowing more equal treatment of patients. It can also help to reduce the burden on healthcare systems by providing patients with self-management tools. Rohkea combines VR and DTx to help treat chronic back pain with cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation and stretching activities, as well as a multitude of physiotherapeutic movements. It includes a virtual mentor who guides and helps patients throughout the experience.

Read the article here and watch the Yle newsclip here (Finnish only).

For more information about Rohkea in English, read our blog post here.