A local nurse practitioner may have just changed the game for young children who need surgery.
Abby Hess, a doctor of nursing practice with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s anesthesiology department, invented a breathing-controlled video game concept to help reduce stress and anxiety for kids when it’s time to put on an anesthesia mask for surgery. Called EZ Induction, the gaming app features cartoon animals children can move by breathing into the mask.
“Many young patients become anxious when an anesthesia mask is placed over their face in the operating room,” said Hess in a press release. “I wanted to find a way to help kids feel calmer during this high-anxiety moment.”
For children 10 and under, anesthesia is usually administered through a mask. And while health care professionals and parents do their best to prepare children for the experience, it can still be scary and overwhelming in the moment. The hospital says many kids will cry and resist the mask and this creates a stressful situation for the kids, as well as parents and medical staff. Hess says she has seen this firsthand countless times, and research notes that high anxiety prior to surgery can result in poorer outcomes afterward.
This prompted Hess to collaborate with the Cincinnati Children’s Innovation Ventures team and the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund to prototype, create and test EZ Induction.
In the game the mask is turned into a game controller, when children breathe in and out using the mask, they can win different challenges. Children are shown how to play the game in the preoperative area and can complete the final level when they go into the operating room.
“The game shifts the focus from something scary to something that’s calming and fun,” Hess said. “It easily engages kids, teaches them to breathe calmly, and lets them know what to expect when they go back to the operating room. Seeing their child engage with the game also helps parents feel at ease and provides them with a novel way to coach their child during the process.”
Cincinnati Children’s is the first medical center in the United States to pilot EZ Induction, and LittleSeed Calming Technologies in Powell, Ohio, has licensed the right to market this gaming app to other hospitals. It plans to launch it sometime this year.
“Dr. Hess is a compassionate, driven, and innovative problem-solver,” CEO of LittleSeed Jeff Penka said in the press release. “She has infused that patient-focused spirit and energy into the collaboration between Cincinnati Children’s and LittleSeed Calming Technologies. Seeing how this engaging, fun application puts children and families at ease in an unfamiliar environment is both moving and a source of pride for all involved in its creation.”
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This article appears in Apr 5-18, 2023.
