VR Games Cut Pediatric Sedation in 100-Plus Cases as 4 Million Players Aid DNA Research
Updated
Updated · Vox.com · Aug 20
VR Games Cut Pediatric Sedation in 100-Plus Cases as 4 Million Players Aid DNA Research
2 articles · Updated · Vox.com · Aug 20
Summary
More than 100 children in a 2024 study completed minor procedures using VR games without general anesthesia or other sedation, while reporting pain similar to anesthetized patients and recovering faster.
Doctors are testing the approach because children often need sedation for MRIs and minor procedures they struggle to sit through, even though the FDA warns repeated or lengthy anesthesia can harm brain development in those 3 and younger.
An 18-patient Canadian study published in 2025 found every child who used a VR game before an MRI completed the scan without added sedation, and a separate Yale trial in 17 teens with Type 1 diabetes improved exercise adherence and slightly lowered blood sugar.
Beyond clinical care, game platforms are being used for citizen science: a 2024 Nature Biotechnology paper said more than 4 million people solved 135 million puzzles to help align 1 million human microbiome sequences, outperforming leading computational methods.