The advent of virtual reality has enhanced the standard of various sectors. Those problems that were seemingly hard to solve earlier, are now being solved by incorporating the technology of virtual reality.
In this article, let us first understand what virtual reality is, where it is used and then dive into its applications concerning the healthcare industry.
Table of Contents
What Is Virtual Reality?
Virtual Reality is nothing but simulating an environment with the help of technology, which may or may not differ from reality. Virtual Reality has been incorporated in various sectors including gaming, military and education. Further, the exposure of VR has widened and reached healthcare industry too.
Virtual Reality Vs Augmented Reality:
Both virtual reality as well as augmented reality have simulated environments in common. However, there exists a distinguishable factor between the two which must not be ignored. Virtual reality creates an environment mimicking exactly or partially something that already exists. On the other hand, augmented reality takes in real environments and add imaginary aspects to it. Google Sky Map is a classic example of AR apps.
Also check: Virtual Reality Development: Everything You Need To Know In 2020-2021
Applications Of Virtual Reality:
The concept of virtual reality is being advantageous in various sectors.
- In education – Training models are created in virtual reality to ensure better understanding.
- In military – Virtual reality facilitates simulations of war environments and is helpful in training soldiers to survive any attack.
- In gaming – VR is used widely in gaming industries as well. Evidently, there are many people who play video games for several reasons. In order to give them the best gaming experience, developers create a virtual environment that is almost similar to the real gaming environment.
- In healthcare – VR-based treatment methods are being adopted in various hospitals these days.
But How Exactly Is Virtual Reality Helpful In Healthcare Industry:
Over the years, the healthcare industry has been progressing a lot. There are solutions to almost any health-related problems. Further, the desire to improve and simplify, encouraged the adaptation of novel technologies. Thus, Virtual Reality came into the scene.
The following are the major applications of virtual reality.
Robotic surgery
With the help of virtual reality, robots perform simple to complex surgeries with great accuracy.
In conventional surgeries, surgeons usually make longer cuts for a better view, to use the surgical equipment with ease and to achieve maximum accuracy. Robot-assisted surgery prevents excessive blood loss as it involves smaller cuts.
However, one should not forget that virtual reality does not replace a surgeon. But it surely makes the life of a surgeon easier.
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Pain Management
Any underlying disease gets expressed in the form of pain. An injury also gives pain. Furthermore, even psychological stress is found to be related to physical pain. Analgesics can cure you for the moment. But it will gift you with a whole lot of side-effects and make you more miserable. So doctors don’t advise frequent administration of analgesics.
Then how do we overcome the pain? Sometimes, the pain could cause an imbalance and the daily lives of people get drastically affected. So how do we control it?
For this purpose, virtual reality is employed. While undergoing treatment, patients are made to use HMDs (Head Mounted Displays) which help ease the pain by distracting the patients.
Awareness Generation
There are countless diseases in this world. But people don’t know about many of them. This lack of knowledge creates a sense of curiosity and fear among the people. Even if not all the diseases, people need to know at least the most prolific diseases. It is also important to be aware of the causes, symptoms and remedies.
Virtual Reality can be used to keep people informed about various diseases. People who are suffering from a disease are surveyed about how they feel and the information is then fed into the device. With the help of this device, other people can experience the environment associated with the disease except for the pain.
This way, people will get to know the sufferings of other people and the ways in which they could be of help to them.
Also check: Virtual Reality Sets Foot In The Healthcare Industry
Medical training
Medical research is getting more and more complex with the growing health complications. So, it is not only important to have the required theoretical knowledge but medicos should be trained practically as well. Using virtual reality, medicos can gain an in-depth understanding of the concepts. Earlier, conventional training involved the usage of cadavers. But the biggest limitation of this was that living systems vary widely from dead ones. This can be overcome by using virtual reality in training sessions.
Also check: Virtual Reality for Seniors
Thus, it is explicit that virtual reality can be used to augment the standards of the healthcare industry. Further, not only medicos but also patients who are having a hard time suffering from a disease are benefited from this booming VR Technology. Suffice to say, virtual and augmented reality have ample space for innovation in the healthcare app development industry. With further growth and integration in the sector, this trend is only set to grow bigger and in the process help millions around the world.
