Metaverse is a visual representation of reality made possible by virtual reality software, according to a HealthManagement.org article. Not quite VR, not quite AR, the metaverse is a culmination of technology that offers a reality adjacent to actual reality. Communications, retail, work stations, entertainment, and healthcare make up some of the core features of the synthesized experience.
While the metaverse experiments need at least another decade of work before humans have access to its shops , games, and travel and healthcare benefits, medical companies are using the developing technology now to explore its potential.
Meta has partnered with the WHO to design an MR mobile app to train healthcare workers across the globe on the COVID19 response.
The app includes one module in which AR technology simulates and teaches users how to properly apply and remove PPE. It is currently available in seven languages, and its functions aim to extinguish challenges named by 22,000 healthcare workers who completed a survey administered by the WHO last year.
Mental health
In the realm of psychiatry, VR is facilitating PTSD treatment for veterans. Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan receive an exposure therapy called Bravemind, created by Albert “Skip” Rizzo, a psychologist and director of medical virtual reality at University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies.
Bravemind allows patients to revisit memories from war: Explosions, insurgents, smells, and vibrations occur at the push of a button. The patient is then guided through painful memories using the expertise of a trained therapist. Further research on the effectiveness of the program is needed, but since Bravemind was introduced to patients, approximately 12 Veterans Affairs Hospitals have focused on reducing PTSD symptoms.
Surgery
Metaverse experiments also benefit schools that use VR for surgical education. One such school is UConn Health at the University of Connecticut Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
UConn Health educates orthopedic residents by using Oculus technology to enable them to perform the following 3D virtual orthopedic surgeries: B. Insert a pin into the fractured bone. Residents are free to make mistakes and correct them with feedback from the supervisor. 3D technology is the result of a collaboration between Oculus and a Canadian medical software company called PrecisionOS.
These advances in medical technology have the potential to radically change future medical care. In the meantime, doctors may wonder how this will change their role in medicine.
Metaverse and Medicine
The good news for doctors is that using metaverse experiments makes it easier, especially for surgeons. In a 2019 review by Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, researchers discovered that VR provides a high-quality virtual representation of the patient’s anatomy in detail. Access to 3D anatomical images has greatly improved doctors’ surgical skills.
This success is reflected in a recent VentureBeat article considering the use of services such as 4K imaging, 3D displays to improve surgeon ergonomics, and zoom to complement the operating room. Surgeons are most likely to enjoy the direct benefits of these developments. In the first VR surgery at the facility, a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon used an Augmedics headset.
The crew performed 6-screw spinal fusion. Another crew member removed the cancerous tumor from the spine of the second patient a few days later. The Augmedics headset allowed each team to see the patient’s internal structure, including bone and tissue. This is what a doctor compared to a GPS for surgery.
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