It’s not uncommon when we have an ache or pain to try to move on with our day and power through it, but if you’ve been trying to ignore the pain to avoid going to the doctor, that could lead to more pain and trouble down the road.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. SpellBound, an Ann Arbor-based augmented reality company, has received a $1.8 million fast track grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study opioid use in pediatric cancer patients. The study will measure the effects of SpellBounds augmented reality scavenger hunt, ARISE, on the length of hospital stay and opioid use by pediatric cancer patients after surgery. She stated that studies have found relationships between movement, recovery milestones and a reduction of overall pain but getting pediatric patients to move is a challenge for clinicians. The fast track grant allows SpellBound to accelerate the study by combining phase 1 and phase 2 trials to test feasibility and perform clinical trials. York added that the research grant will allow SpellBound to provide support resources for research hospitals in the study, hire more engineers and evolve ARISE.