01 · VRx
Virtual reality therapeutic medicine
AI-driven, immersive cognitive rehabilitation training (VR-CRT) for patients with mild cognitive impairment linked to cancer, dementia and stroke.
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Pioneering the future of brain health science and technology.
Advancing therapeutic, diagnostic, and biomarker technologies to achieve lifelong mental resilience for patients with cognitive impairment.
About the lab
The DHx NeuroTech Lab at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing brings clinicians, engineers, neuropsychologists, medical researchers and computer scientists together to build digital health technologies for memory and brain health.
About the lab →Research record of the lab director
- 130+
- refereed papers, posters and abstracts
- 120+
- presentations delivered worldwide
- 7
- active funded projects, totaling $4.1M
- $9.6M
- in total research funding
Why it matters
Between normal aging and dementia there is a window. Our work meets patients there.
Mild cognitive impairment touches people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, cancer, and stroke. We design immersive, game-based therapies that train attention, memory and executive function, and that track progress as patients play.
Our virtual reality cognitive rehabilitation training platform, VR-CRT, is being studied with patients at the UC Cancer Center and the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. An initial pilot study showed improved verbal fluency, executive function and broader cognitive plasticity.
What we do
Our research sits at the intersection of digital health and biomedical engineering. We lead interdisciplinary teams that design, build and clinically test new technologies for patients in cancer care, cystic fibrosis, and memory and brain health.
Three technologies for memory, diagnosis and care.
02 · VOC biosensors
Diagnostic nano-biosensors
Handheld smart sensors that read volatile organic compound biomarkers for noninvasive detection, currently in prostate cancer and cystic fibrosis.
Learn more →03 · mHealth
Mobile health and telehealth
Human-centered apps, portals and dashboards that connect cancer patients and their families with timely care, including FamCare+ and the C4 program.
Learn more →In development
VR-CRT 2.0: cognitive training that adapts to every patient.
The next generation of our platform pairs immersive exercises with AI, so therapy responds to how each person performs and feels.
Immersive cognitive training
Exercises built around predictive performance metrics.
AI companions in the game
Intelligent non-player characters hold emotionally responsive conversations, using sentiment analysis and brain-health (PROMIS) questions to gather real-time cognitive data.
Difficulty that adapts
Player-experience modelling adjusts each game to the patient’s performance.
Movement-based brain games
Physical exercise combined with motor-cognitive tasks to support brain plasticity, memory and motor skills.
What’s new
American Cancer Society funds VR cognitive training study for breast cancer survivors
The study measures the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual reality game-based cognitive training platform for survivors at risk of mild cognitive impairment.
NIH supports a handheld smart sensor for cystic fibrosis
With Indiana University colleagues, the lab is developing breath-based detection of pulmonary exacerbations using machine learning.
American Cancer Society team grant targets prostate cancer detection by scent
The project identifies volatile organic biomarkers of prostate cancer with portable GC-MS and develops a hand-held nanosensor system.
Leadership
Our lab brings science, engineering and clinical practice together to turn research into technology that improves care for patients and their families.
Anthony (Tony) Faiola, PhD, MFA
Lab Director. Professor, Department of Population Health, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati.
Member, UC Cancer Center and UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute.
Join the lab
Interested in working with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, engineers, neuropsychologists and computer scientists? See how students and researchers can get involved.
Research funded by
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- American Cancer Society
- Merck Foundation
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- MacArthur Foundation
- Walther Cancer Institute
- Fulbright
Partners and collaborators
- UC Cancer Center
- UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute
- Indiana University School of Medicine
- Regenstrief Institute
- Barrow Neurological Institute
- Sapienza University of Rome
- Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome