ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – University of Central Florida Restores staff members received a $1 million check Thursday from the U.S. Army to help enhance a virtual reality software used to treat patients with PTSD.
"The new system that we are developing is much more reactive, meaning we will be able to take any scenario that has affected veterans, active duty personnel, first responders," Dr. Deborah Beidel, UCF Restores director, said.
The UCF Restores clinic started the program as a research project in 2011 for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with trauma.
About 750 people have used it throughout the years, and 30 patients are now in active treatment.
The clinic uses virtual reality as a tool to enhance situations of a patient's traumatic experience and to help reduce the anxiety the patient associates with that experience.
"Whether it is a combat scene, an urban environment scene, a scene involving sexual assault, we will now be able to do that quickly and provide better and more effective treatment for our veterans," Beidel explained.
Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy presented Beidel with the check and believes this will help many local veterans and first responders in need of help.
"These brave men and women put their lives on the line to keep us safe, and they deserve the very best care that we can give them," Murphy said.