Metaverse and medicine: Telehealth became widespread and with the arrival of COVID-19, remote care proved to be easy to use and safe during a time when face-to-face contact was not.
However, telehealth represents only a small fraction of the emerging relationship between virtual technology and health care. In fact, virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR). Just as other technologies are merging to create the metaverse, medicine is changing as a result.
What is the metaverse?
The metaverse is an emerging amalgamation of virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and augmented reality (AR) that may one day exist alongside mainstream reality.
Examples include a virtual reality system in which patients see providers. An MRI system that mental health providers incorporate into therapy or an augmented reality system. Which surgeons use to guide procedures in real life.
Most can hear “meta” and think of Mark Zuckerberg. That’s because on October 28, 2021, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would become Meta, another social technology entity entirely.
However, the subsequent “metaverse,” of which Meta aspires to be a part, is a visual representation of reality made possible by virtual reality software, according to an article in HealthManagement.org
Will patients navigate the metahealth ecosystem?
Telehealth prepared doctors and patients for metahealth. c
Data interconnectivity, digital twins, simplified providers, and payment will come together to create a holistic healthcare experience for digital patients in the metaverse.
Real World Benefits of the Metaverse in Medicine
While the metaverse needs at least another decade of work before humans have access to its shops, games, and travel and health benefits. Medical companies are using the developing technology now to explore its potential.
Train health workers
For example, Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, acquired virtual reality company Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. Since the acquisition, Meta has partnered with the WHO to design an MRI mobile app to train healthcare workers. around the world regarding COVID-19.
The app includes a module where AR technology simulates and teaches users how to properly don and doff PPE. It is currently available in seven languages and its features are aimed at solving the challenges pointed out by 22,000 health workers who completed a survey administered by the WHO last year.
Mental health
In the realm of psychiatry, virtual reality is making PTSD treatment easier for veterans. Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving an exposure therapy called Bravemind, created by Albert “Skip” Rizzo, a psychologist and director of medical virtual reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California.
Surgery
Medical schools are also using virtual reality for surgical training. One of these schools is UConn Health, the University of Connecticut medical center located in Kalamazoo, MI.
UConn Health uses Oculus technology to empower orthopedic surgery residents by allowing them to perform virtual 3D orthopedic surgeries, such as placing pins in broken bones. Residents are free to make mistakes and correct them with feedback from superiors. The 3D technology is the product of a collaboration between Oculus and a Canadian medical software company called PrecisionOS.
Such advances in medical technology might radically change medical care in the future. Meanwhile, doctors may wonder how their role in medicine might change as a result.
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