Key Applications of Virtual Reality in Medicine – CIO Applications

VR can be used to assist medical professionals in visualizing the interior of the human body, revealing previously inaccessible areas. For example, the dissection of cadavers, which was once required of every new medical student, has given way to the study of human anatomy through virtual reality.

Fremont, CA: Virtual reality (VR) is the name given to the technology that enables a user to use a VR headset to create a situation or experience of interest within an interactive but computer-generated environment. The simulation is interactive, and it may necessitate the use of special 3-D goggles with a screen or gloves that provide sensory feedback to assist the user in learning from experience in this virtual world.

Medical Training

Current medical education has shifted away from rote memorization of facts and toward imparting skills in using facts to arrive at an appropriate management strategy when confronted with a given patient. This training consists of problem-solving skills, communication skills, and VR-based learning.

Virtual reality can be used to simulate any type of medical situation, allowing students to deal with it as if it were real life. This is followed by feedback and debriefing so that they can learn from their mistakes if any exist. Because VR systems are inexpensive and faculty are not required to be present, access is more flexible and broad-based.

VR can be used to assist medical professionals in visualizing the interior of the human body, revealing previously inaccessible areas. For example, the dissection of cadavers, which was once required of every new medical student, has given way to the study of human anatomy through virtual reality.

Treating Patients

Virtual reality is useful in pre-planning complex operations, such as neurosurgical procedures, because it allows the surgical team to walk through the entire procedure and practice their planned intervention.

This increases safety by reducing surprises. CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans are used to compile the data, which is supplemented by VR and haptics. When in surgical settings, the reconstruction looks and feels like the real patient.

Virtual reality is also important in surgical robotics, which is based on a robotic arm controlled by a human surgeon at a console. The surgeon is reliant on the camera embedded within the body to give a view of the area being operated on. However, tactile and sensory feedback is also important during surgery, and VR may provide a reasonable substitute in their absence.

Patients suffering from phobias, for example, find VR extremely beneficial, as do their therapists. To treat clients suffering from agoraphobia or acrophobia, for example, a corresponding situation may be recreated in the therapist's own center to help the client face it gradually. This is also true for post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Key Applications of Virtual Reality in Medicine - CIO Applications