Virtual Reality in Healthcare: Transforming the Future of Healthcare
Virtual reality (VR), the new technological advance, is preparing to transform applications in the healthcare industry. According to Statista, it is predicted that by 2022, the second largest market share of virtual reality will be from the healthcare industry. Virtual reality in healthcare works across various departments to deliver higher quality patient care and performance to medical professionals. For the healthcare industry, from the clinical process to the user, VR has many applications such as tutoring future doctors, creating new life-saving routines.
Virtual reality in healthcare, efficient use of large healthcare databases, training and development of medical professionals, patient participation, disease awareness, medical marketing, patient care, etc. It can face challenges in the industry, including. The Reports & Data report is expected to reach $ 8.03 billion in 2027, up from $ 2.06 billion in 2019.
This article discusses how virtual reality in healthcare can transform the industry by applying it in various departments such as medical education, patient care, patient engagement, disease awareness, and medical marketing.
VIRTUAL REALITY IN HEALTHCARE EDUCATION
In healthcare, virtual reality can transport you to areas inside the human body that would otherwise be impossible to access and view. Medical students currently use cadavers to learn, but cadavers do not react the way living patients do. Also, cadavers are very difficult to keep. When using VR in health education, students can view even the smallest details of all parts of the body. This view is possible in stunning 360 ° CGI reconstruction and creates educational scenarios that replicate actual surgical procedures.
In healthcare, Virtual Reality can be used to provide high-quality surgical training. Using virtual reality, a 4K 360 ° video of the real-life surgery is shot from various angles. It is then combined with CGI models of the operated anatomy. This advanced use of virtual reality in healthcare provides medical students with an interactive and comprehensive educational experience.
TREATMENT
PATIENT EDUCATION
In healthcare, the ability of virtual reality to see the inside of the human body is beneficial for both doctors and patients. With the help of virtual reality, doctors can take patients to their surgical plans. This is made possible by a virtual view of the patient’s anatomy and pathology through patient-specific 360 ° VR reconstruction. The result is an improved understanding of treatment for patients and higher patient satisfaction.
ROBOTIC SURGERY
Robotic surgery is a new innovation. A robotic device such as a robotic arm is used in robotic surgery while being controlled by a human surgeon. This use of virtual reality in healthcare ensures that there is less or no risk of complications in surgeries. This also allows the surgeon to finish the surgical procedure faster and more accurately. Robotic devices are accurate with less blood loss, smaller cuts, and faster recovery.
MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY
The unique ability of virtual reality technology to take you virtually anywhere can be used to create a powerful healthcare virtual reality simulation of different scenarios in which psychological problems occur. This eliminates the need for a therapist to guide patients to different scenarios, such as a tall building or a crowded mall, to provide the right guidance. These scenarios can be easily created with virtual reality technology in care. Virtual reality in healthcare has also been used to help autistic children in the classroom, curb memory loss and collect data for dementia research.
PAIN CONTROL AND PHYSICAL THERAPY
In addition to mental health issues, the healing properties of VR are also used in pain relief and physical therapy. According to a study by the UW Harborview Burn Center and the University of Washington Seattle, a complete immersion in VR served as a diversion for patients undergoing physiotherapy after a skin transplant. This distraction then reduced their pain sensation.
Virtual reality in healthcare also appears to be effective in shortening recovery time in physiotherapy. Patients who perform their daily exercises in a virtual environment find the task more enjoyable than normal. It also keeps patients focused and helps them maintain their mood and recover faster.
PATIENT INVOLVEMENT
With the help of virtual reality in care, patients can experience a virtual tour of the inside of their body before operations. This is a 360-degree (3D) tour of 360 degrees. This allows patients to know their body, anatomy and pathology before starting the surgical procedure. A Virtual Reality Medical Visualization platform has been developed for the tour.
These advances in virtual reality in healthcare deeply involve patients, reducing stress and leading to rapid recovery.
MEDICAL MARKETING
The most popular and first application of virtual reality was marketing. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most effective and powerful marketing tools. The ability to use VR to project the future of healthcare is the most powerful tactic in healthcare marketing. With virtual reality in healthcare, one of the most powerful tactics you can market in the industry is to show people what changes they can expect when they start or stop sports, drop out or arrive, the progress they book through cancer treatments, etc.
Because the possibilities of virtual reality in healthcare are endless, healthcare professionals and healthcare providers can attract more patients, high-caliber physicians and nursing staff to your institutions. If they are scarce, virtual reality in healthcare can be used as an excellent marketing tool for healthcare to guarantee the expected results.
DISEASE AWARENESS
AbbVie, a pharmaceutical research and development company, created an experience to train medical professionals and make them aware of the day — to — day battle of Parkinson’s patients. The experience was demonstrated at a fair for the pharmaceutical industry. People put on a headset and experience how Parkinson’s patients navigate through a virtual supermarket and encounter difficult moments when they come in contact with other people.
Such virtual reality experiences in healthcare contribute to the awareness of various diseases among professionals and patients. Virtual reality presentations can be given to increase awareness of certain diseases.
THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN HEALTHCARE
Many virtual reality applications in healthcare are still in their infancy. In the coming years, more use will be made of virtual reality in healthcare, which will improve the effectiveness and accuracy of current procedures. It will also strengthen the various human capacities, both for patients and for medical professionals. Virtual reality in healthcare has enormous potential, but is only limited by the ingenuity and creativity of people who create and apply the technology. VR will certainly transform medical training, physical and psychological therapies, rehabilitation, treatments for mental health and patient involvement, among others.
Virtual reality in healthcare has the power to transform the way doctors are trained and patients are treated. According to reports from various market research firms, in particular, research by Grand View Research
