Healthcare has always embraced the most advanced technologies and solutions, as they are often the best way to help patients and improve medical research. So, it’s no surprise that virtual reality in healthcare is seeing a lot of interest and enthusiasm. Thanks to that warm welcome, the advent of VR and augmented reality has the potential to upheave the medical industry completely.
Understanding the full extent of virtual reality in healthcare is no easy feat, as it affects every stage of medical services. But you have a reliable guide, JetBase, and the ability to see what VR can accomplish. In our post, we will explore VR's current applications and future potential.
In the end, you will see how others use VR and AR (Augmented Reality) and hopefully have ideas for your own applications. We’ll share the potential drawbacks of the technology, as well as its powerful advantages. This way, you can approach the future of the healthcare industry with a clear understanding of what’s achievable.
The VR in healthcare statistics are impressive:
- Cedars-Sinai Hospital has found that a VR experience can reduce pain by 24% or more.
- A Harvard Business Review study found that VR training improved participants’ overall surgical performance by 230% compared with traditional methods.
- A study found that VR exposure therapy reduced fear of heights by a self-reported 68% on average.
- VR is rapidly advancing, with a compounding annual growth rate of 30.3%.
Without further ado, here’s how virtual reality and healthcare come together to create new possibilities for patients and doctors.
Seven Ways How Virtual Reality is Transforming the Healthcare Industry
As we mentioned above, VR in the medical field is quite multifaceted, so showing its full impact is easier on a case-by-case basis. We’ll list a few ideas on applying VR, with real-world examples, and let you be the judge. Some of these are already well-established, while others are just starting to take off, revolutionizing medical care. Most of them use Apple’s VisionOS, the best new platform for VR solutions.
Use of VR During Surgery
If you’ve explored virtual reality in healthcare, you’ve likely heard of Rafael Grossmann. His TedX talks on the use of VR have gone viral before, but this surgeon does more than just educate. Grossmann was the first doctor to use Google Glass and its VR features to assist him during surgery.
With the help of medical virtual reality, a surgeon can map out the surgery plan and see information about it on the go. Plus, a patient’s full chart can be “pinned” for the staff to see any special instructions. Thus, the surgery process transforms with just a simple wearable. It allows doctors to literally see more, giving them a clear feed of information.
VR Apps for Medical Students
Grossmann’s endorsement of Google Glass for surgeries isn’t the only VR application he’s promoted. He’s also touted the benefits of InsightHeart, an AI-powered virtual reality and health solution.
We at JetBase have experience developing apps for Apple Vision Pro. Based on that, we can confidently say that demand for its use in medicine will keep growing.
It’s a next-gen educational system offering a virtual human heart model. Students can look around and study the organ as a voice assistant describes anatomical information. This application of VR in healthcare helps students see the heart in extreme detail without needing to be present in a lab.
In addition to that, specialized apps allow students to simulate specific situations from their future practice. Things like surgery or a session with a patient are possible through virtual reality for healthcare.
Visualizing Hospital Management
While the bulk of VR solutions in the healthcare industry focus on doctors, there are exceptions. It’s possible to streamline managerial duties for hospitals by using VR for data visualization and a clearer view of the processes.
This creates a way for managers to easily observe patient statuses, track cash flow, and assign medical staff new tasks. That kind of use of virtual reality in medical field may not seem flashy but it can substantially cut into the time spent on routine tasks.
Apps like that are easiest to create and deploy for VisionOS, which can be a great platform for doctors and patients alike. Its flexible interface and interactions make it easy to pick up and the powerful hardware means Vision Pro supports robust apps.
Stroke Recovery
Another vital application of virtual reality in healthcare is helping patients recover from strokes. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, patients receive special Motus devices that help control limb movement. Then, with the help of a virtual reality headset, they re-learn how to use their arms and legs, with doctors collecting analytical data along the way.
As a result, patients get a better chance at a full recovery, with medical staff seeing exactly which areas of the body are affected and how much damage has been done. This gives extra accuracy to all physical therapy and allows doctors to guide patients more delicately.
Any sort of recovery process can be sped up via VR for healthcare, especially as the technology becomes more widespread. The lower cost of headsets makes them more accessible to patients, regardless of income or insurance status. This way, VR helps make high-quality care available to everyone.
Giving Doctors the Patient POV
Fostering empathy for patients is an essential part of quality medical care. However, understanding the pain they’re experiencing and accommodating their needs could be difficult. Thanks to VR in the healthcare industry or, more precisely, Embodied Labs, this is no longer a problem.
With simple simulations that put the doctor in the patient’s shoes, medical students can now experience what the other side feels. This includes living through the physical effects of various diseases and simulating a conversation with a doctor. Exercises with virtual reality in healthcare help improve doctors’ bedside manner and enhance their perception of patients’ issues.
Early Detection of Ocular Issues
It makes sense that a technology fully based around vision would impact ocular healthcare and NeuroSync is among the trailblazers for that use case. It’s a simple example of how VR in healthcare industry takes an existing process and modernizes it.
By putting eye-tracking exercises into the virtual space, the company gathers much more precise data. This helps doctors spot the tiniest deviations and issues in patients’ eyesight. What’s important is that early prevention can be vital for fighting off the effects of dangerous ocular conditions. With just one solution, virtual reality in healthcare has the potential to save the eyesight of thousands.
Faster Patient Processing
Doctors have to spend a lot of time understanding a patient’s condition and medical history, which VR in healthcare industry addresses in a simple way. Using Google Glass or similar wearables, doctors can get access to a short summary of a patient’s records. This will shift and show information that is relevant to the current procedure.
As a result, doctors receive only relevant information about the patient and do so on the go without needing to browse many pages of medical history. This speeds up the interaction and allows the doctor to focus on the patient fully. Thus, virtual reality in healthcare lets doctors provide better care with more patients processed every day.
The Future of VR in Healthcare Market
It’s clear that VR in healthcare industry is already shaping medical services. However, the technology is arguably still young. What sort of potential does it hold? How widespread will its adoption be? Let’s talk about this with some research data.
Right now, some already see VR as a powerful educational supplement. We touched on that with InsightHeart and using virtual space as a lab replacement. However, we expect much wider adoption in the future, with many educational spaces relying on it. Current data indicates that the space is underexplored, and new solutions could greatly help students.
JetBase has been working with VR and, in particular, Vision Pro, since it first became possible. As its market expands and more than 1000 apps are available, our five solutions are already among their ranks. Using SwiftUI, our team can make anything from a simple management app to a powerful medical suite.
A basic app with user login, dashboards and notifications should take around a month or two to develop, with a price tag of about $10,000. More complex solutions will take longer to build as they require more work.
Other research shows that a lot of current discussions about VR center on the barriers:
However, it also suggests that all of these problems aren’t just surmountable but barely a factor when measured up against the advantages of VR for healthcare. It enhances patient comfort, encourages socialization for those unable to achieve it otherwise, and opens new treatment options.
In terms of hard numbers, the future looks exceedingly bright. A compound growth rate of 18.8% until 2030 indicates that the healthcare virtual reality market will receive a lot of investment. Financially, the market began to trend up post-COVID, and its growth has no reason to stop.
Plus, the use of VR to help patients with mental issues is already changing how doctors approach that area of medicine. The controlled environment that VR in the healthcare industry creates is a perfect way to acclimate patients to situations they struggle with. As the simulations get better, expect this method of therapeutic VR use to become more prevalent.
In fact, as new technologies appear and become available for testing, the market will become deeper. We fully expect virtual reality in healthcare to become more refined and evolve into a standard part of education in respected establishments. It’s also going to be a daily-use tool for medical professionals, regardless of their specialization.
Want to Create a VR Healthcare App?
Creating a revolutionary app that transforms your business isn’t just a matter of having a good idea. Technical expertise and experience in the field are just as vital as creative direction. This is why most companies that seek to make their own VR technology in healthcare turn to an outsourcing team.
JetBase is the perfect candidate for this task, as we’ve spent more than a decade crafting custom solutions, including 5 visionOS apps. It encompasses work in the healthcare field and with VR and AR. For example, our portfolio includes cases such as a powerful telemedicine app. It’s a scalable and modern platform that helps doctors and patients interact remotely.
Working on these has given us insight into VR and healthcare, positioning our team as true experts. Mixing efficiency and sleek design is our specialty, as is working with modern tools. So, if you have an idea for a project tackling virtual reality in healthcare market, get in touch.
