PTSD v. Cell Phones. Game On.

Playing a simple but addicting video game on a cellphone could help treat and even prevent post-traumatic stress.

East Carolina University researcher Carmen Russoniello is working with the Army to develop biofeedback training to help military members recognize and control the symptoms of post-traumatic stress, according to an Army news story.

With funding from the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), Russoniello is partnering with PopCap Games of Seattle to meld biofeedback with the company's popular Bejeweled game.

In the game, players align various jewel icons into rows of three or more, winning points and bonuses for achieving longer rows of jewels or incorporating special icons in their sequences. In the biofeedback version, players win "health points" as their heart rate syncs with their breathing, Russoniello says. The game helps players to control their breathing and diminish symptoms of stress.

TATRC is funding two pilot projects in which Russoniello also is working with Biocom Technologies of Poulsbo, Wash., which develops products to monitor heart rates. One of the projects will build and test a system for sensing heart rates via a cellphone camera and use the phone to transmit the information to a secure cloud server, according to the Army article. The projects are to be completed this year.

The technology is an important element of Russoniello's Bejeweled biofeedback plan. The researcher, a Vietnam veteran, has applied for a Defense Department grant for a field test to see whether game-enabled cellphone biofeedback can prevent post-traumatic stress, the article says.

Russoniello hopes to start the test later this year.