Review of Innovative Virtual Reality Solutions Supporting the Rehabilitation of Covid-19 Patients

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the medical community to quickly adopt and use existing digital solutions and advanced technological tools, including virtual reality (VR) in healthcare, on a larger scale. VR can be used, among others, as a method of supporting rehabilitation at home in patients with COVID- 19, who are additionally struggling with disabilities, neurological problems, social isolation, stress or depression. The main aim of the work is to discuss innovative methods and technologies used in Virtual Reality for rehabilitation in general terms, as well as to collect and structure information on the possibilities of effective rehabilitation and support in overcoming phobias (related to social isolation) in patients during or after COVID-19. In addition, publications related to virtual reality systems, as well as virtual games used in the process of rehabilitation of upper limb, lower limb and cognitive functions were included in the analysis. A systematic literature review was carried out for this purpose. The number of searched results was reduced by increasing the sensitivity and specificity of the search. The criteria responsible for increasing sensitivity and specificity were: searching for multi-word phrases in quotation marks, searching for systematic reviews in order to obtain publications with high reliability and narrowing the collection of publications to the last 3 years. After applying the search strategy, four publications were obtained, which were used to confirm the credibility of the thesis that Virtual Reality positively influences the rehabilitation process in patients with COVID-19. As a result of the conducted research, there is a presumption that VR has great potential in supporting healthcare activities, especially while overcoming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual environment stimulates various senses, which translates into the effectiveness of rehabilitation.