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Healthcare companies are increasingly ready to use AR and VR technologies for improved data analysis and better healthcare practices. Companies have discovered new ways to connect with patients during pandemics, offering personalized and remote care. Others use AR and VR to enhance medical training or prepare them for pre-surgery activities.
VR and AR technology are not yet common in most hospitals and clinics across the globe. VR and AR will be widely used in medicine and healthcare. What's the future of these technologies? This article will examine the practical applications of augmented and virtual reality in healthcare market and the future prospects for VR and AR.
The difference between AR, VR, and MR.
Augmented reality refers to the enhancement of the real world in a certain way (think Google Glass). It projects digital information onto existing environments, creating an image of the real world. Virtual Reality allows for an immersive experience with a virtual reality glass that completely covers the eyes. The VR glass blocks out all external noises, creating an immersive experience. Mixed Reality combines both. It combines the real world with digital objects to create an interactive reality.
Augmented reality is different from virtual reality (VR), which creates a 3D world that completely disconnects the user from real life. AR is unique in two ways: it doesn't lose touch with reality, and it provides information as quickly as possible. AR is a powerful tool for the future of medicine.
What is the difference between AUGMENTED Reality and VIRTUAL Reality for Health Care?
There are some minor differences between AR and VR when it comes to healthcare. Augmented reality allows for the collection of data and then displays these data in 3D models. Virtual reality technology can also be used to simulate the environment. Both can be successfully used in the medical environment.
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Augmented Reality Technology enhances the real world by visualizing data that is invisible to the human eye. AR is more flexible than virtual technology, but the doctor and patient are still fully immersed.
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Virtual reality technology allows for complete immersion in virtual environments using special equipment. This allows the doctor or patient to see the full picture, even though it is limited by the virtual world's boundaries.
Opportunity Assessment of AR and VR in Healthcare
Let's first define the differences between AR and VR before we dive into the potential AR and VR opportunities in healthcare and medical fields.
Augmented Reality (AR), is a technology that allows you to overlay information, videos, and graphics on your smart device over real life. This technology adds data and information to the real world. AR is most well-known in the IKEA Place app and L'Oreal Makeup apps, as well as Pokemon Go.
VR (virtual reality) is an artificial reality that is created by computer technology. It allows a person to completely immerse themselves in a virtual environment. VR chats, Volvo test drive realities, The North Face in Yosemite National Park for hiking, and a large number of VR games are some of the most popular examples.
These are just a few examples of VR and AR being used in medicine and healthcare.
Medical training:
Allows doctors and medical students to learn how to better treat patients or perform more complex surgeries with less risk.
Robotic surgery:
Robotic devices that perform precise operations under the control of a human surgeon using VR technology.
Physical Therapy:
VR allows patients to overcome pain and get faster recovery after physical therapy.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment:
When a person is put in a stressful environment and has to try and find a way out of it.
Treatment for anxiety, phobia, and depression:
Patients can use VR to meditate or relax in safe VR environments;
Emergency Treatment:
With AR maps overlaying reality, people can locate medical centers, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities.
A personalized approach to patients:
VR and AR help doctors explain to their patients what will happen during their surgical procedure or the steps that a patient should follow to ensure a more successful recovery.
VR provides medical immersion for a variety of patient needs
The Healthcare industry can use AR and VR technologies to enhance their customer experience by engaging customers in healthcare activities. Healthcare companies can use Virtual reality devices to help with aesthetic medicine and orthodontics. Customers and healthcare companies can also plan the procedure and view the results. Healthcare specialists can offer their patients an app that stimulates vision in ophthalmology. Patients can better understand the problem and take part in their treatment.
VR and AR technology can be used to improve self-diagnosis in times of pandemics. This is especially useful in remote areas, where it's difficult to visit clinics and patients must use telehealth services. AR allows for a more accurate self-diagnosis. This will allow you to determine if the person needs hospital treatment.
In isolation, VR and AR-based apps can also be used for self-guided treatments. You can use AR and VR to address chronic pains, overcome anxiety, and plan exercises for joint dysfunction recovery. Gamified rehabilitation is now possible for patients who have suffered brain injuries or chronic strokes. This makes the therapy more fun and engages patients better.
Augmented reality can also be used to provide information about the locations of healthcare facilities. AR maps allow users to locate the closest clinics and other healthcare institutions in an unfamiliar area. AR maps can save you time searching for facilities. This could be very useful in an emergency situation. AR maps can be used to show the location of the nearest automated external defibrillators in case of emergency.
AR and VR for Surgery Deliver Efficiency and Preparation
VR and AR technology can be used in the operating room and classrooms by healthcare professionals and doctors. VR and AR technology can be used by surgeons to view surgery simulations of difficult surgical cases or to walk through organs before they perform an operation. The 3-D organ models are also useful for illustration purposes, during conferences, and to show patients what will happen during surgery and the expected outcomes.
VR and AR technologies allow for a more personal approach to healthcare. Doctors can create digital organ twins for their patients by studying the organ function and reactions to treatment. They can also perform more tests on them. Combining clinical expertise with VR technology allows for personalized treatment, which results in faster and more effective recovery.
Resolving Disparities in Healthcare to Expand VR Programs
AR and VR technologies are rapidly growing in popularity. Allied Market Research predicts that virtual reality will be a major part of the healthcare market by 2026, with a total value of $2.4 billion. However, VR technology in healthcare faces some difficulties today to be widely used. The main problem is the lack of access to 5G high-speed networks and the low use of 5G devices.
VR and AR are still in their experimental phase at most healthcare IT businesses and medical institutions. These technologies are gaining more attention in the healthcare sector, which encourages faster development and wider application. Companies that do not recognize this fact may have difficulty providing quality services in the future, and could eventually fall behind their competitors.
These are the best examples of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Medicine and Healthcare
1. Augmented Reality can save lives by showing defibrillators near
What would you do if someone in front of you collapsed suddenly? You would have a million thoughts and you'd reach for your phone to get help.
You can find apps that will help you in this situation. The AED4EU app was created by Lucien Engelen, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands. This new app allows users to add locations where AEDs or automated external defibrillators are located.
Layar browser allows you to project the exact location and coordinates of nearby AEDs onto your screen. It would only take a few minutes to locate them and assist those in need. Augmented reality provides crucial information for those in danger or need.
2) Google Glass to Help new mothers who are struggling to breastfeed
Although Google Glass could not conquer the world, it was useful in helping new mothers breastfeed. Although it was an original great idea, it isn't something we know much about today.
An innovation company called Small World ran an 8-week Google Glass trial in Melbourne with the Australian Breastfeeding Association. This allowed the telephone counselors to see through mothers' eyes while they breastfed in their homes. This allowed new mothers to get help whenever they needed it and did not have to take the baby out of their arms. Consultations can be elevated to a whole new level by sharing the perspective of patients.
It's too bad that there isn't a product like this on the market and that the trial didn't seem to meet expectations.
3) Patients are able to better describe their symptoms through augmented reality
Many patients have difficulty describing their symptoms accurately to doctors. Other times, patients often find themselves reacting too strongly to their medical condition or even ignoring it. Augmented reality may be the solution for patient education in ophthalmology.
Oculenz can be used by patients suffering from central vision loss. Oculenz allows doctors to simulate the vision of patients with a particular condition using apps such as Oculenz. It could be motivating for people to make positive lifestyle changes if they can see the long-term health effects of their lifestyle.
4) Nurses will find veins more easily with augmented reality
AccuVein, a Medtech startup, uses AR technology to make nurses' and patients' lives easier. VinnyLuciano, AccuVein's Marketing Specialist, stated that 40% (intravenous injections) miss the vein on their first stick. The numbers are worse for the elderly and children.
The company uses augmented reality to help doctors draw blood more efficiently. A handheld scanner projects the skin onto the skin and shows nurses or doctors where the veins are. Luciano estimates that the device has been used on over 10 million patients. This makes it 3.5x easier to locate a vein on the first stick. These technologies could be used to improve the skills of medical professionals.
5) Motivation of runners using zombies
Imagine you're walking down a dark alleyway when suddenly you hear a strange creature moving slowly and groaning. Even the laziest person will speed up when they realize that the "real zombie" is after them. This is the fundamental concept behind the Zombies Run! app.
This game highlights the fact that fear can be motivating people, and that it is easier to have fun with everything when you make it a game. This app is great for people who think the running activity is boring. You will feel faster and more agile if you can see and hear virtual zombies on your device's screen.
6) Pharma companies offering more innovative drug information
Ever wondered how drugs work in your body? Even if you were interested in the mysterious world of drugs and pills, you will probably lose all your interest after reading the lengthy and confusing drug description. Augmented reality can change that.
AR allows patients to see the drug in 3D right in front of them. Instead of reading lengthy descriptions on the bottle, they can use AR to visualize the drug's workings. Augmented reality equipment could be used to monitor lab workers' experiments. Workers could begin working in pharmaceutical factories without any training sessions, as the device would show them what to do and how.
7) Augmented Reality can help surgeons in the OR
Patients and doctors are well aware that precision is crucial in surgery. AR is now available to help surgeons be more efficient in their surgeries. AR healthcare apps are able to help surgeons save lives and treat patients efficiently, regardless of whether they are performing a minimally invasive procedure.
Sync AR created a software program to provide surgeons with "X-ray vision" through the incorporation of digitally enhanced images directly into a microscope.
Grossmann was part of the team that performed the first real operation using medical VR. He told me that HoloAnatomy uses HoloLens for real-time data-anatomical models and is an intuitive use of AR with obvious advantages over traditional methods.
8) Hololens is changing medical education and studying anatomy
Microsoft and Case Western Reserve University have partnered to create a HoloLens app, HoloAnatomy that allows you to visualize the human body in a simple and stunning way.
Microsoft HoloLens Headset allows app users to view everything, from muscles to the smallest veins in front of their eyes, on a dynamic holographic map. It will transform medical education as it allows students to view the human body in 3D, instead of using traditional methods such as black-and-white photos and written descriptions in books.
Microsoft Hololens may not be perfect yet, but there are no reasons to doubt that it will get there in the near future. The best way to adapt to this future trend is to start to educate yourself and your children.
9: Teaching children about the human body
Curiscope is a UK-based company that creates immersive learning experiences using virtual and augmented realities. The Virtuali-tee T-shirt was created by them. It allows you to see inside the human body using realistic holograms. Virtuali-tee allows anatomy to come to life in a way that is so convincing it already represents Arthur C. Clarke's famous third law. Magic is impossible to distinguish from technology that has been sufficiently advanced.
Do you recall which toy was your favorite as a child? LEGO was my passion. It is one of my favorite activities. I love assembling LEGO pieces into new things and building castles, cars, and complex cities. It encourages imagination, and creativity, and enhances your ability to see the world from a holistic perspective. There have been a number of video games recently that try to recreate LEGO in virtual space, such as Minecraft.
Many parents complain that their children are just sitting in front of a screen and not learning about the world around them. I disagree. The use of Minecraft can also increase creativity and help children to see the world in a new way than LEGO.
It is possible to build LEGO with AR from this point. This will allow us to combine the benefits of real building with virtual imagination.
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Conclusion
Healthcare and medicine are rapidly embracing Augmented and Virtual Reality. They can provide high-quality patient care and education to healthcare consumers.
Despite the fact that both technologies are still in their infancy, businesses are investing heavily in this market. Companies that recognize the potential for these technologies to disrupt healthcare are looking for their AR and VR development companies in order to create their own digital solutions for healthcare using VR and AR technologies.
Are you looking for an experienced partner in AR and VR development and in building medical digital software and apps? CIS can help you transform the healthcare services that you provide. Get in touch with our experts today!
