The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is using an integrated treadmill-based virtual reality system in RENEW, the Clinical Research Center for Restoration of Neural-Based Function in the Real World. RENEW supports studies aimed at advancing care for people who have had a stroke or other neurological conditions, and it sits in MUSC's new College of Health Professions building in Charleston, South Carolina.
How the system is used
In a photo from the college's announcement, a participant walks in a virtual environment on the integrated treadmill-VR system while an engineer sits nearby. Steven Kautz, Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Research, names the treadmill-based VR system and specialized telehealth-enabled rooms as part of the cutting-edge technology RENEW uses to study neural-based function in the real-world environments where people live, work and participate in their communities.
The facility
- RENEW is housed on floors 5 and 6 of the CHP-D building at 74 President St.
- The 89,000-square-foot, six-floor building is the college's fourth on campus and held its grand opening on Oct. 9.
- RENEW was funded in part by a $7.8 million National Institutes of Health grant.
- MUSC describes it as the first specialized core facility at MUSC and in South Carolina designed to bring together investigators from multiple colleges and departments around this research.
