Virtual Reality in Healthcare: Changing Education and Therapy

Living beings form reality through the interaction between their senses and their brain. They define what is real by this interaction, forming an image of the world that translates to how they engage it. Virtual reality (VR) reproduces this process using high-resolution, three-dimensional simulation to form multisensory (visuals, sounds, and tactile feedback) integration to create immersive environments.

Virtual reality is mostly used in game creation, although, due to its cognitive and therapeutic abilities, it is gaining traction in the healthcare sector. As well as different areas of care, from education to therapy, providing a vast range of possibilities. How does VR create these immersive multisensory experiences?

The How Of VR 

Virtual reality makes use of headsets and sometimes handheld controllers to create visual images that fill the viewer’s field of view. So, these images are seen through a screen and a set of lenses, creating realistic surroundings. Also, gyroscope sensors detect the movement of the head and cause motion pictures to respond, deceiving the brain of realism. Additionally, sounds are integrated to enhance spatial awareness and joint coordination of the person’s perception, while haptic feedback—like how it feels to touch a heart, the temperature, and the texture—adds a tactile edge, often through handheld controllers.

Virtual Reality in Healthcare

The areas of interest for this article on VR in healthcare include:

1. VR in medical training

2. VR in therapy and rehabilitation

Medical Training 

There are vast possibilities for training with Virtual reality gadgets: detailed images of anatomical structures that students can see and manipulate in a pristine environment. Also, the functionality of these structures can be observed, as can pharmacokinetic reactions. Making more immersive training possible to orient students thoroughly.

Real-life scenarios can be simulated to train students to handle pressure optimally. Moreover, surgical procedures can be practiced to avoid errors. Empathy and care are taught to students through simulated communication and virtual ‘What if you were the patient’. Patients can have detailed pictorial explanations of procedures to aid understanding. Stanford Medicine frontiers innovative education with surgical rehearsals that are next-level. They use 3D neurosurgical simulations, which allow them to see and manipulate the brain without incision.

Therapy and Rehabilitation

One of the groundbreaking innovations that Virtual reality brings to healthcare is its therapeutic abilities. It has been proven able to manipulate people’s perception of reality and thus create motivation, reduce pain, and aid rehabilitation. For instance, in senior care, it is used to aid memory retention and manage dementia

In a 2021 study led to the authorization of the marketing and sale of EaseVRx, a prescription virtual reality (VR) system that helps reduce chronic lower back pain. The 8-week study showed convincingly how the product helps to reduce pain, with 66% of participants in the EaseVRx group reporting at least a 30% reduction in pain.

It plays a major role in psychological therapy, helping patients overcome trauma and phobias in a monitored environment. Also, patients are motivated to rehabilitation with simulations that distract them from the pain and reduce recovery time. Even stroke rehabilitation is possible with Virtual reality.
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Challenges and Considerations of Virtual Reality

The amazing abilities of Virtual reality come with their downside. The increasing accessibility of technology comes with the risk of privacy breaches and vulnerability to data theft. Aside from these, these devices are expensive to make and maintain, not to mention they have a few health risks, like nausea and imbalance. Most of the challenges are remedial to be wholesome in our use of technology, to ensure our control and not dependence.