Comparison of Body Positions in Virtual Reality Mirror Box Therapy for Treatment of Phantom Limb Pain in Lower Limb Amputees

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of two virtual reality (VR) games based on the traditional mirror box therapy (MBT) for lower limb amputees. The games are displayed in VR using a head mounted display (HMD) and two motion controllers attached to the intact leg. Two games were developed which both include a sitting and lying version with the purpose of testing the possibilities for enabling more freedom of leg movement. The games were tested on 8 healthy subjects to compare the sitting and lying versions. The results indicated that the lying position was preferred in one game, whereas the sitting position was preferred in the other game. This suggests that VR can enable more freedom of movement.