XRHealth, the leader in extended reality and therapeutic telehealth applications, announces today that they received a patent to measure sway and conduct a fall risk assessment using virtual reality and augmented reality therapy.

According to the CDC, one out of five falls results in serious complications like broken bones or head injury. With the new capability, XRHealth can assess the risk of elderly patients’ likelihood of falling, potentially preventing a debilitating injury.

The patent is entitled “Assessing Postural Sway in Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality.” Sway is measured by using a VR/AR platform to measure positional data from a headset or hand sensors. The positional data then determines the center of mass. When the patient enters the virtual/augmented reality environment, it simulates a situation where the user is unbalanced. The data on position and center of mass is then sent to a server to determine if the person poses a risk for falling.

Three million elderly people are sent to emergency rooms each year to treat injuries from falls and 95% of hip fractures are a result of falls. “When treating elderly patients, the ability to measure sway accurately in an AR/VR therapeutic process can potentially prevent falls that can result in long-term disabilities,” said Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth. “The advantage of using XR to measure sway is that patients can do this from the comfort of their home, during routine extended reality therapy.”

XRHealth has virtual clinics throughout the United States that treat patients remotely with VR/AR-based therapy while they are examined by a licensed XRHealth therapist. The XRHealth platform combines FDA-registered medical applications with advanced data analytics, providing a comprehensive solution for therapists and patients while collecting and analyzing patient interactions with virtual objects in virtual environments.