Modern technologies can serve as vital booster shots to industries needing new advances. One such pairing is augmented reality and healthcare, as the trend of AR use can unlock new potential in medicine and improve healthcare services. Today, we will discuss how to combine the two using JetBase’s experience within the industry and with AR.
From talking about the fundamentals of AR in healthcare to highlighting its advantages and applications, our guide will help you start using AR the right way. Let’s dive right in.
What Is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work in Healthcare?
AR is the practice of connecting real-world environments to computer-generated content, typically 3D models. The use of AR in medicine may involve simulating practical procedures, either for training or reviewing prior operations. It’s also used in medical devices, as well as in hospitals with the aim of improving patient care.
The Difference Between Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality in Healthcare
Now, we’ve answered what is AR in healthcare but it’s far from the only such tech in the industry. Some professionals also rely on VR and MR in their practice. The former can be used for therapy while MR is designed to help with visual aid and planning. Using all three can create a well-rounded set of tools, with VR and MR complementing your medical AR.
Benefits of Augmented Reality in Healthcare
Now that we’ve established what AR in healthcare is, let’s talk about its utility for medical enterprises and their patients.
Improved Medical Training and Education
The use of AR can help interns and medical students get some experience with intricate operations. By adding virtual elements, such as 3D models of organs and patients, they can train to perform specific actions without any risk. Similarly, you can use AR-based guides and information to give them context and help during their training.
Enhanced Patient Care and Treatment Outcomes
Apps with augmented reality in medicine can be used to give patients better insight into their own bodies and conditions. This will result in them being able to explain what ails them and, thus, get more precise diagnoses and faster care. Things like showing patients their internal organs and veins will help pinpoint the source of the problems.
Cost Savings and Efficiency
Faster treatment and more precise outcomes mean less spending per patient, which directly relates to lower medical procedure costs. Besides, AR-powered apps can replace doctor consultations on minor matters, allowing doctors to focus on more critical cases.
Streamlining Surgical Procedures
A more intricate application of augmented reality for healthcare is during surgeries, as medical staff can use AR to see a more detailed view of the patient’s body. AR can also provide up-to-date statistics to show the progress of the operation.
Increasing Patient Engagement
As we’ve said above, patients can use apps for augmented reality in medicine to stay more informed and involved in their recovery process. By learning and seeing more about their bodies and illnesses, people can become part of the medical process.
Improving Accessibility to Healthcare Services
The last on our list of benefits of augmented reality in healthcare is the fact that AR makes access to medical information easier for everyone. Plus, by reducing the cost of medical care, as we established earlier, it makes healthcare more democratic overall.
The Most Impactful Augmented Reality Trends in Healthcare Today
Although AR has great future potential, the technology has already found a place in healthcare. Here are just some of the current AR trends.
AI and AR Integration for Advanced Diagnostics
Artificial intelligence joins augmented reality for healthcare to improve diagnostics, using AR visuals to analyze the patient’s state and gain deeper insights. AI can easily analyze data, providing the compiled results to doctors. AR visualizes them, while also acting as a data source for AI to work with.
Telemedicine and Remote Assistance with AR
Augmented reality can be used to provide more information during telemedicine sessions, as it helps doctors and patients see what the other party wants them to. It also allows medical professionals to directly send comprehensive instructions to patients, assisting them. This applies to things like medication intake and patients giving themselves shots.
AR for Personalized Medicine
Every patient has unique needs, from requiring extra delicate communication to asking for more information on their state. AR covers those situations, giving information on all medical procedures, constantly communicating with patients and more. It also adapts to each new patient, reflecting their own requests.
Use of AR in Mental Health Therapy
Immersion in a serene and welcoming space is important for therapy, as patients must feel calm and open. Using augmented reality in healthcare, doctors can create such environments, adding visual elements to their offices that please patients. Things like objects from home can help a patient lower their mental walls and make a breakthrough in therapy.
AR in Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy
Gamifying physical rehabilitation can help engage patients and incentivize them to focus on it more. This includes pop-ups that inform patients about new personal bests and advise them on the next step in their recovery. It also provides precise statistics that reflect each patient’s journey and let them see how far they’ve come.
Popular Uses of Augmented Reality in Healthcare Today
Trends aside, AR sees daily use in medicine across a variety of applications. This includes:
AR for Medical Imaging
Tomography scans are vital for doctors’ work, and AR can convert them into full-fledged 3D models, allowing medical professionals to see more details from all sides. It’s also possible to screen these images and others like them straight onto a patient. This aids in surgeries, as it can enhance precision.
Vein Visualization with AR
Nurses give IVs and shots regularly and, though practice makes perfect, having a full visualization of a patient’s veins can be quite helpful. It completely erases the chance of missing a vein during an insertion, improving medical services for patients.
Surgical Planning and AR Guidance
There is a lot of information to keep track of during surgery, tracking a patient’s heartbeat, noting their preexisting conditions, and more. With AR, this can all be in front of the doctors’ eyes in one simple interface. That way, they can be guided through the procedure with minimal distractions.
Immersive Medical Training for Professionals
Medical students can refine their skills by taking part in virtual operations, using 3D models corresponding to real-life cases. This way, AR in healthcare guides their initial learning and familiarizes them with the tech they can use later during actual surgeries.
Patient Education through AR
Giving patients easy access to medical information about their condition and treatment helps make sure they stick to the best practices. AR-enabled apps can show this info in concise and easy to digest ways, increasing patients’ awareness of their situation.
The Future of Augmented Reality in Healthcare
While current uses of augmented reality in the medical field are plenty exciting, there is a lot more to come. In this section, we will list all the top trends that will change the industry in the coming years.
Advances in AR Technology for Healthcare
General improvement of AR in healthcare is pretty much guaranteed, as we will likely get higher-quality modeling, support for more devices, and better visualization. As platforms like VisionOS take off in popularity, we expect an increase in AR adoption, too.
Integration of AR with AI for Smarter Healthcare Solutions
Mixing AI and AR in healthcare can help provide more relevant data through AR interfaces, refine analytical information gathered via this technology, and automate AR processes. For example, AI can control devices to automatically bring up updated info during surgeries. This frees up doctors to focus on their own actions, while the device gives them relevant data.
Potential for AR in Personalized Patient Care
We’ve already established that AR can be used to personalize communication with patients and make them feel more comfortable. As the technology gets better, it can offer more of this, with AI-powered analysis of a patient’s history and preferences.
The Growing Role of AR in Remote Healthcare
Using AR in healthcare for patients in remote areas can help engage them even when they can’t be physically present in a hospital. AR can offer simple and accessible ways to educate patients and guide them through physical therapy and recovery.
Ethical Considerations and Challenges of AR in Healthcare
While we’ll dedicate a full section below to the challenges facing AR, it’s important to highlight that integrating the tech will require ethical work as it becomes more widespread. Chiefly, patient data will have to be curated for use in processing algorithms. This should be done with the patient’s consent and include ways to opt out.
Common Challenges in Implementing AR in Healthcare
Though AR can be incredibly useful, the process of adding it to your roster of tools isn’t always straightforward. Here are some typical roadblocks and ways to overcome them.
Cost and Accessibility Issues
While AR isn’t as new and trendy as AI, it’s still not a cheap technology. Plus, it can be tricky to make it compatible with legacy systems, which some hospitals use. The solution to both of these is simple - working with professional outsource teams. They will help reduce the cost of implementation while solving any technical issues that arise.
Data Privacy and Security Concerns
Augmented reality in the medical field, like any other technology, must respect patients’ privacy and keep their data safe. This means that any device that uses it should have fully encrypted connections with the hospital databases. Plus, no data should be stored unless absolutely necessary, as it creates undue risks in the case of a breach.
Regulatory Barriers and Ethical Dilemmas
While some locales, such as the US, already have plentiful regulations that allow AR in healthcare to thrive, others may lack the required flexibility. This complicates AR use in other regions, and a lack of official regulations often means a lack of information for the public.
As a result, they may be hesitant to trust AR solutions, preventing doctors from ethically using them. The answer here is in educating patients extensively and working with officials to strengthen legislative pushes in the region.
Managing AR Devices and Infrastructure
Typical uses of augmented reality in healthcare rely on specific AR-enabled devices, which means they have to be integrated into your ecosystem. Creating the right conditions to make all devices in the hospital network compatible and communicating with one another can be tough. This is where you’ll really see the utility of a competent development team.
How AR Can Revolutionize Healthcare in the Coming Years
In addition to all the use cases we’ve covered, we believe AR’s impact on the medical industry will keep growing. Therefore, we’d like to forecast a couple of potential new directions it will take in the near future.
Safer Surgeries
According to statistics, AR in healthcare already makes operations safer by about 21%. As the technology becomes more refined and offers new features, this number should climb. In a couple of years, we may see a decline in human error as doctors rely on AR to help. More precise data and timely tips will greatly cut into the possibility of a wrong move during surgery.
Collaborative Work
Though AR is already helping surgeons and other doctors right now, it can also build bridges to have medical professionals supporting each other. By building a virtual environment that reflects what’s going on in the operating room, AR in healthcare can have doctors participating remotely. That way, experts from around the world can take part in major surgeries and increase the chances of their success.
AR for First Responders
Using real-time data that AR delivers straight into their field of view, first responders and emergency workers can instantly see the patient’s state and make split-second decisions. In cases where a patient is in critical condition, this can literally mean life or death. As the technology gets better and more precise, decision making with AR will become more vital.
How Jetbase Can Help You with AR Services for Healthcare
Augmented reality in healthcare can be an immensely powerful tool that rejuvenates medical services. However, in order to reap all of its benefits, you need to implement it the right way, using a skilled dev team. Luckily, JetBase is ready to lend its specialists for your healthcare project.
Our portfolio includes work in the healthcare field and with AR, as we create custom solutions and consult companies on using modern tech to address modern issues. We follow the development process all the way from planning to post-launch support. If you want to introduce AR into your ecosystem, there is no better team to do it than JetBase.
Send us a message and let’s start our collaboration.
