UI grad student researches virtual reality to help chronic and acute pain

University of Iowa graduate student Lynn Nakad was playing a scary virtual reality (VR) game with her brother when she wondered how this technology could help the medical field.

"It immersed me so much that I got the idea that maybe there's more to this that could be applied to the medical fields," says Nakad. "At the time, I was in nursing school, so I was really looking at everything with a fresh new perspective."

As a fourth year PhD student in nursing, Nakad's dissertation focuses on the effects that VR has on distracting people suffering from acute or chronic pain. Nakad is currently working on a project to implement VR as an alternative route for pain management therapy at UnityPoint Health - St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

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