VR used for vaccination campaign of youngsters

MONTREAL – Paperplane Therapeutics, a Quebec-based start-up that develops therapeutic virtual reality games, will be involved in the vaccination campaign for 5- to 11-year-olds with its DREAM solution. This innovation, which aims to help better manage pain and reduce the anxiety of young patients during medical procedures, comes at the right time with the start of the vaccination campaign for young people.

DREAM contributes to the smooth running of various treatments while reducing their duration. Paperplane Therapeutics is registered with Health Canada and meets the standards for marketing safe Class 1 medical devices. Scientifically validated, its turnkey therapeutic solutions are the result of a university research project by the two founding members of the company, Jean-Simon Fortin (pictured), emergency medicine physician, and David Paquin, full professor in the Department of Creation and New Media at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT).

Completed in September 2021, the clinical study conducted at the University Hospital Center (CHU) Sainte-Justine on the use of the DREAM device with children aged 7 to 17 shows very conclusive results: 80% of patients felt less anxiety during the medical procedure, and 50% of them felt a significant reduction in pain, while 30% felt no pain at all. Vaccination with virtual reality is available for now in the Quebec province at, among other places, the CISSS de Laval, the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-Île de Montréal and the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, where the Olympic Stadium Vaccination Clinic is located.

“The device transports young patients into an immersive, multi-sensory universe, reducing their perception of pain and lightening the workload of the caregiving staff. The conclusion of our research could not have come at a better time and allows us to deploy DREAM today in vaccination centres. Moreover, Clic Santé allows parents to inform healthcare personnel that their child is experiencing anxiety related to vaccination, in which case the centre will be able to offer the DREAM virtual reality solution,” said Jean-Simon Fortin, president and CEO of Paperplane Therapeutics.

“DREAM is the culmination of five years of research and development and ideation in collaboration with the academic and medical sectors. We have seen a 100% acceptance rate of the product by medical staff. They did not want to return the devices at the end of the clinical study,” said collaborator Sylvie Le May, professor and researcher at the Research Center of Sainte-Justine University Hospital.

Paperplane Therapeutics has received a total of nearly half a million dollars in funding for DREAM and counts UQAT, CHU Sainte-Justine, MEDTEQ, NRC IRAP and Investissement Québec among its principal partners. The company also offers IMAGINE, which prepares children aged 5 to 17 for an MRI session by reducing anxiety and fear surrounding the exam. Currently deployed at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, the research project will begin in the winter of 2022. The company expects to complete a seed round in early 2022.

About Paperplane Therapeutics
Paperplane Therapeutics was founded in 2019 by a visionary and experienced team. Combining strong expertise in medicine and interactive entertainment, the founders came together to design therapeutic virtual reality video games. Their goal? To tangibly improve the care experience children and teens have when undergoing medical treatment or procedures, in a clinic or hospital setting.