| The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in medicine is a reality for several decades. In this field, one could emphasize the boom in the clinical psychology world, specifically in the treatment of phobias and other psychological disturbances. The several experiences carried out from the beginning of nineties (such as they have been carried out by the Medical Image Computing Laboratory (MedICLab) of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) - Valencia (Spain)), the satisfactory and promising results that have been obtained and the huge raising interest of this technology between the psychology professionals, have conducted to a new paradigm in the psychotherapy named Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT).; Right now, it is unquestionable the effectiveness of VRT. Nevertheless, the possibility to offer these methods to those who need them is questioned. The patient's geographic situation, personal reasons, purchasing power, etc., are some important reasons that justify the difficulty in order to access to these professionals. Moreover, those treatments are usually long time and expensive, more over if we consider the use of these new technologies.; Telemedicine, the use of the electronic information and the technologies of communication in order to provide remote health, has made easier for anybody to access to the means of health, despite their geographical situation, their temporal availability, etc. Telepsychology, Telemedicine applied to psychology, is the concept in which it would included the solution of the problem previously mentioned: to provide everybody the efficacy of VRT, despite their geographical situation, their temporal availability, etc.; Thanks to the boom that Telehealth is obtaining, justified by telecommunication advances, and the hopeful possibilities of the VRT, an innovative TelePsychology system based in the Internet, VR and Streaming technologies has been developed in this thesis. This system has solved the initial objectives: (1) To provide to the patient a new remote and self-apply therapeutic process for the diagnosis of the problem, their psychoeducation in front of it and its treatment. (2) To provide to the therapist a therapeutic tool in order to control the remote patient's treatment, and to follow and to analyse his evolution. (3) To keep the efficacy of the consulting room therapy.; In order to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the system developed in this thesis, several tests have been carried out in collaboration with the Departamento de Psicologia Basica, Clinica y Psicobiologica of Universitat Jaume I (UJI) - Castellon (Spain) - and the Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluacion y Tratamiento Psicologico of Universidad de Valencia (UV) - Valencia (Spain). The good obtained results confirm its utility and efficacy and their promising possibilities in the future. |
