Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023;53(4):439-457.
doi: 10.3233/NRE-230066.

A narrative review of the use of a cutting-edge virtual reality rehabilitation technology in neurological and neuropsychological rehabilitation

Luigi Macchitella  1 , Simone Amendola  1 , Giulia Barraco  1 , Sara Scoditti  1 , Ivana Gallo  1 , Maria Carmela Oliva  1 , Antonio Trabacca  1
Affiliations
Review

A narrative review of the use of a cutting-edge virtual reality rehabilitation technology in neurological and neuropsychological rehabilitation

Luigi Macchitella et al. NeuroRehabilitation. 2023.

Abstract

Background: Virtual reality (VR) interventions have been increasingly used in the rehabilitation of a wide range of neurological and neuropsychological dysfunctions. Findings of previous reviews showed positive and promising effects of VR-based interventions. However, they summarized findings on VR-based intervention carried out through different VR systems and tasks.

Objective: We carried out a narrative review with the aim of qualitatively synthesising the results of previous studies that used specific VR systems, i.e. the Khymeia -Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System, for treatment purposes.

Methods: We searched the literature in various databases (i.e. EMBASE, Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed and PubMed Central) for studies published until November 23, 2023.

Results: 30 studies were selected. The VRRS was used for neuromotor rehabilitation only in 13 studies, for cognitive rehabilitation in 11 studies, and for both neuromotor and cognitive rehabilitation in six studies. The study design was heterogeneous including 15 randomised controlled trials.

Conclusion: After discussing each study according to the type of rehabilitation we concluded that the use and efficacy of VRRS rehabilitative intervention for increasing the neurological and neuropsychological functioning of patients are promising but more evidence is needed to make a comparison with conventional treatment. Future studies should also include long-term follow-up as well as cost-effectiveness analysis.

Keywords: Virtual reality-based rehabilitation; telehealth; telerehabilitation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Adapted PRISMA flow diagram from Page et al. (2021).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alemanno, F., Houdayer, E., Emedoli, D., Locatelli, M., Iannaconne, S. (2018). Telemedicine to set new frontiers in neurorehabilitation: A cognitive home-based solution [Conference Abstract]. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 32. 10.1177/1545968318765498 - DOI
    1. Alemanno, F., Houdayer, E., Emedoli, D., Locatelli, M., Mortini, P., Mandelli, C., Raggi, A., Iannaccone, S. (2019) Efficacy of virtual reality to reduce chronic low back pain: Proof-of-concept of a non-pharmacological approach on pain, quality of life, neuropsychological and functional outcome, PLOS ONE 14(5) e0216858. 10.1371/journal.pone.0216858 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baethge, C., Goldbeck-Wood, S., Mertens, S. (2019) SANRA—a scale for the quality assessment of narrative review articles, Research Integrity and Peer Review 4(1) 5. 10.1186/s41073-019-0064-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bryanton, C., Bossé, J., Brien, M., McLean, J., McCormick, A., Sveistrup, H. (2006) Feasibility, motivation, and selective motor control: Virtual reality compared to conventional home exercise in children with cerebral palsy, Cyberpsychology & Behavior: The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society 9(2) 123–128. 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.123 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Buccino, G. (2014) Action observation treatment: A novel tool in neurorehabilitation, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 369(1644) 20130185. 10.1098/rstb.2013.0185 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources