Augmented Reality technology (AR) has made tremendous strides in the medical device industry and has proven to be an essential piece of the puzzle in healthcare. We at Ethosh have worked closely with healthcare organizations delivering immersive technology solutions such as AR and VR and have realized the true potential of this technology. Below is the overview of AR and its use cases to help you understand the potential of this technology that facilitates sales & marketing, learning, operations & practice aspects of the healthcare business.

Google Glass to help new mothers struggling with breastfeeding

While Google Glass couldn’t conquer the world, it was used to help new mothers with breastfeeding. Originally an excellent idea (hence it has its place on this list), there’s little to know of it today.

The Melbourne office of an innovation company, called Small World conducted an 8-week Google Glass trial with the Australian Breastfeeding Association that effectively allowed their telephone counsellors to see through the eyes of mothers while they breastfed at home. Through such a way struggling mothers could get expert help at any time of the day and they did not even have to put down the baby from their arms. By sharing the patients’ perspective, consultations get to a new level.

Too bad there’s no such thing on the market anymore and that the trial did not seem to have fulfilled the expectations.

Patients can describe their symptoms better through augmented reality

Patients often struggle when they have to describe their symptoms to their doctors accurately. In other cases, people frequently find themselves overreacting to a medical situation – or, on the contrary, belittling the problem. In ophthalmology, augmented reality might be the answer for patient education.

Oculenz is for patients with central vision loss. Using apps like Oculenz, doctors can show the simulation of the vision of a patient suffering from a specific condition. If patients can experience the long-term effects of their lifestyle on their health, it could motivate people to make positive changes.

Nurses can find veins easier with augmented reality 

Medtech startup AccuVein is using AR technology to make both nurses’ and patients’ lives easier. AccuVein’s marketing specialist, Vinny Luciano said 40% of IVs (intravenous injections) miss the vein on the first stick, with the numbers getting worse for children and the elderly.

By using augmented reality technology, the company can help medical professionals get better at drawing blood, using a  handheld scanner that projects over the skin and shows nurses and doctors where veins are in the patients’ bodies. Luciano estimates that it’s been used on more than 10 million patients, making finding a vein on the first stick 3.5x more likely. Such technologies could assist healthcare professionals and extend their skills.

Pharma companies providing more innovative drug information

Have you ever been curious about how a drug works in your body? Even if you got interested in discovering how the distant world of pills and medicaments work, I bet you lost all your enthusiasm after you read the boring and indecipherable drug description. Now, augmented reality is here to change it.

With the help of AR, patients can see how the drug works in 3D in front of their eyes instead of just reading long descriptions on the bottle. Lab workers could monitor their experiments with augmented reality equipment. In pharmaceutical factories, workers could start working without hands-on training as the device would tell them what to do, and how to do it.

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