AR and VR use cases in healthcare

Integrating technologies like AR and VR in healthcare can pave the way for better health outcomes, providing more precise and accurate solutions. A long time ago, virtual reality and augmented reality technology were limited to the gaming industry.

Nowadays, as the world becomes increasingly digital, many industries are integrating AR and VR technology into their work and achieving seemingly unattainable realities. One such industry is healthcare. According to reports, the AR and VR market in healthcare will reach approximately US$9.7 billion in the next five years. The current value is approximately $2.7 billion. This means that by 2027, the industry will grow 3.5 times.

All healthcare systems have their own set of challenges. Problems may include patients in inaccessible areas or spaces, limited equipment and skills. Some equipment may be outdated or obsolete, making the doctor's job quite difficult and potentially endangering the patient. A constant challenge is the lack of available staff.

Training and educating medical practitioners takes a lot of time, and unless they have the required skills, they cannot be asked to intervene in any case in real life. However, if AR and VR technology come into play, many of these problems can be alleviated.

AR and VR-powered tools can help doctors understand complex procedures and perform them on patients. Using immersive technology can also simplify education and training for professionals, as it will provide near-realistic simulations and a broader understanding of the human body.

These technologies can also significantly improve the patient and physician experience by adding navigation capabilities and pop-up information. This allows patients to help determine where to find a specific doctor. Augmented reality and virtual reality applications can greatly improve the overall efficiency of medical services.

How AR and VR play a role in healthcare

VR and AR technology are increasingly being used in medical education. Surgeons, doctors and medical students can learn how to perform complex surgeries on patients efficiently without putting them at any risk.

1. Body mapping

Surgeons often face complex surgeries. In this case, they need to be absolutely certain that they can proceed with the surgery. Using AR and VR technology helps create accurate simulations of the body requiring surgery, and surgeons can experiment with complex procedures to find the best approach. It can also help doctors examine the body. This helps provide patients with the best possible outcomes while keeping them out of danger.

2. Remote collaboration

AR and VR applications provide remote collaboration among multiple doctors and simplify the consultation process by accurately detecting the problems faced by patients. . They also provide conferencing and collaborative telesurgery for medical practitioners from different locations to solve relevant medical problems. One of these technologies is called Proximie. It allows doctors to perform virtual scrubs during surgery and provides surgeons with virtual hands-on assistance.

3. Simulation Medical Education

One of the major challenges facing the healthcare industry is the lack of trained and skilled professionals. Implementing AR and VR solutions can streamline the entire education and training process. VR is an effective way to study and understand human anatomy by walking through each layer and understanding its function. Virtual reality helps simulate real-life situations and provide professionals with training on real-life challenges and complexities.

4. Accurate disease and risk assessment

AR-driven applications help doctors identify and treat various diseases and enhance diagnostic capabilities. They help collect information from different sensors in a single interface and provide visualization to understand the exact cause of a patient's symptoms. They also allow us to monitor and examine organs, veins, and more without requiring a doctor to perform invasive surgery.

5. Psychotherapy methods

The use of immersive technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality can also help provide psychological relief and treatment. Specific virtual environments can be created to help patients suffering from certain mental illnesses, such as phobias, addictions, or anxiety disorders. Oxford VR is such an application. It allows patients suffering from any mental disorder and provides them a safe environment to overcome these barriers because it is virtual. These virtual reality simulations will help understand the patterns of these diseases and help develop targeted treatments for these patients. It can also pave the way to reduce pain and improve sleep patterns in patients.

6. Enhanced Surgery

To help improve patient safety, AR-driven applications provide surgeons with real-time data on patient vital signs, surgical details, required equipment and other needed information . These AR-enabled virtual interfaces help surgeons visualize and locate tumors, abnormalities, or any other disease. This helps speed up the surgical process while keeping the patient out of danger.

7. Understand patient symptoms

AR/VR-powered applications can allow physicians to access multiple simulations of specific medical conditions and help reduce prognosis and patient Number of errors in medical visits. Many types of diseases can be accurately cured and prevented through AR-powered mobile applications, which also enables patients to be self-sufficient in taking necessary preventive measures during the recovery process. This increases the proportion of patient consultation time and avoids unnecessary doctor visits at different times of the week.

8. Consultation

AR/VR driven applications allow doctors to provide in-person consultations during emergencies or epidemic situations. Basic services such as vital sign monitoring, immediate treatment, pulse checks, poisoning treatment, etc. can all be provided in a virtual environment. If a person has any discomfort, AR tools can be used to check it, helping patients and doctors save time and energy.

The healthcare industry has been one of the most impacted industries when it comes to implementing the technology, but has been slow to embrace VR and AR due to challenges such as lack of awareness and insufficient funding. . However, over time, implementation and investment in these immersive technologies in the healthcare industry will become a reality.

If implemented correctly, AR and VR can be a huge boon in the healthcare field. Teaching and training for medical professionals will also be streamlined and enhanced. Consulting a doctor will become convenient and diagnosing patients will be less stressful. Physicians can also collaborate on complex but relevant surgeries to provide patients with the best possible outcomes and successful surgeries. Immersive technologies such as AR and VR will truly change the medical industry and make the lives of doctors and patients simpler and more convenient.

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