Restoring function to chronic pain patients
Learn how your patients can benefit from the KarunaHOME health kit and pain coaching program
12-week program
Non-opioid
Fun and engaging
Provider Portal
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Remotely monitor patient progress
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Access pain educational media
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Track and send KVET™ Kits (headsets and mifi's)
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View key analytics
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Custom experiences for providers, clinicians, and pain coaches
Interested in how KarunaHOME can benefit for your patient population?
Trusted by
Patient Journey
KarunaHOME patient experience
Patients perform Karuna Virtual Embodiment Training (KVET™) at home, while progress data is sent back to their providers.
Getting started
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Patient meets with a clinician (either in person or over video chat) to determine a plan of care for Karuna Virtual Embodiment Training™. The KarunaHOME kit is then sent to the patient's house. |
Training and coaching begin
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Patient begins activities and meets with coach once per week to go review goals, progress, and educational materials. |
Program continues
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Patient continues regular training acitivities and meets with coach once per week. |
Real world application
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Patient applies functional progress to real world. |
Finish program
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Patient finishes program and returns kit to provider. |
Want to learn more?
Research
Publications
Case Series
Embodiment in Virtual Reality for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case Series
Michael Trujillo, PhD, Anthony Alvarez, BS, Lincoln Nguyen, BS, James Petros, MD, MBA
This case series provides evidence that embodiment in virtual reality improves symptoms of persistent chronic low back pain. We propose a mechanism by which virtual embodiment may improve chronic pain symptoms by recontextualizing sensory feedback from the body as patients engage in functional rehabilitation exercises while in virtual reality.
Citation: Trujillo MS, Alvarez AF, Nguyen L, Petros J. Embodiment in Virtual Reality for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case Series. J Pain Res. 2020;13:3131-3137. Published 2020 Nov 25. doi:10.2147/JPR.S275312
Whitepaper
Embodiment in Virtual Reality as a Digital Therapeutic for the Treatment of Low Back Pain
Michael Trujillo, PhD, Anthony Alvarez, BS, Lincoln Nguyen, BS, Jon Weinberg, MBA, James Petros, MD, MBA
Karuna Labs Inc. has developed the Karuna Virtual Embodiment Training™ (KVET™) system to address the need for alternative, non-invasive, non-addictive methods to treat chronic pain. KVET™ uses a combination of virtual environments and avatars that provide visual feedback during chronic pain functional rehabilitation. Our key innovation is the application of virtualreality (VR) to improve patients’ willingness and ability to perform physical therapy (PT) and to improve the effectiveness of PT for the treatment of chronic pain.
Research Pipeline
INSTITUTION
DESIGN | STATUS
PI
Penn Medicine
A randomized controlled trial on patients with chronic low back pain
Status: Ongoing, actively recruiting
Dr. Michael Ashburn, MD, MPH, MBA.
Director, Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Karuna Labs
A randomized controlled trial on KarunaHOME for patients with general chronic shoulder pain
Status: Ongoing, actively recruiting
Dr. Michael Trujillo, PhD
VP of Clinical Affairs, Karuna Labs
UCSF
Inpatient Trial: PRISM (Pain Relief with Individualized brain StiMulation)
Status: Ongoing, actively recruiting
Dr. Prasad Shirvalkar, MD, PhD
Neurologist and Pain Medicine Specialist UCSF Dept. of Anesthesia
Georgia State University
Validation and feasibility of KarunaHOME for use in physical therapy
Status: Ongoing, actively recruiting
Dr. Sujay Galen, PhD
Chair, Department of Physical Therapy, Georgia State University
Stanford / Palo Alto VA
RCT to assess efficacy and effectiveness of KarunaHOME on veterans with chronic shoulder pain
Status: Pending
Dr. Maheen Adamson, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford School of Medicine and Clinical Research Director for Rehabilitation Services at VA Palo Alto
Conference Abstracts & Posters
01.
Karuna Society for Neuroscience 2019 Poster
02.
Karuna CALSIPP 2019 Poster
03.
Karuna Pain Week 2019 Poster
04.
Immersive Virtual Embodiment in Pain Relief
Clinical Evidence on VR and Rehabilitation
480
Journal articles *
93
Randomized
controlled trials *
26
Meta-analyses articles *
*Searched by Karuna Labs, Inc. March 2021
Select Peer-Reviewed Research
DESIGN Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
Self-administered VR therapy for chronic pain improves pain intensity and pain-related interference with activity, mood, and stress
DESIGN Randomized controlled trial
VR significantly reduces pain versus an active control condition in hospitalized patients (N = 120; 61 VR; 59 Control)
DESIGN Randomized controlled trial
Virtual reality had large significant effect in reducing sensitivity to pain in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain (N = 84; 42 VR; 42 control)
DESIGN Randomized controlled trial
Immersive VR significantly improved pain, kinesiophobia, fatigue, physical activity and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients
DESIGN Experimental
Visual augmentation in VR induced compensation and unconscious motor adaptation
DESIGN Experimental
Body movement reduces pain intensity in virtual reality–based analgesia
Moving in immersive virtual reality increases the analgesic effects of VR
DESIGN Feasibility
Findings support the feasibility of VR as an adjunct for Veterans with chronic pain.
Provider testimonials
See what providers and chronic pain patients have to say about Virtual Embodiment Training™.
Contact Us
Main Office
424B Treat Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (424) 248-9314
Fax: (888) 215-0754
Facilities
1604 Blossom Hill Rd #10
San Jose, CA 95124
490 Post St. #900
San Francisco, CA 94102
Send us a message
Schedule an Appointment
If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment, please give us a call at (424) 248-9314 or sign up for more information.