Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are here to stay, and the good news is that their applications go far beyond mere entertainment. Within the medical sector, on the one hand, it allows the creation of virtual content for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and on the other, it facilitates the monitoring of the evolution and uses of the patient by health personnel. What's more: it alleviates the burden of consultation assistance, since many treatments can be carried out from home. But, let us start at the beginning…
What are augmented reality and virtual reality?
Augmented Reality overlays digital images with images of the real world captured from a camera or screen. The digital dimension can be controlled by the user to interact with the real environment.
Virtual reality is the immersive experience in a virtual world that is accessed through glasses / helmet that completely replaces the user's vision of the environment.
What applications can it have in the medical sector?
RA/RV develops clinical services that the patient can access from home: in addition to comfort for the average user, it favors access to certain treatments for more vulnerable people, such as the elderly or people with reduced mobility.
Some real examples that are already used:
- An AR system that overlays medical images on a patient during an operation to guide the surgeon.
- A VR system used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in Army Veterans.
- VR rehabilitation therapies that simulate real life situations for the treatment of collateral damage in patients who have suffered medical conditions such as a stroke.
- VR rehabilitation therapies for the treatment of visual disorders.
Some benefits of these applications:
- Facilitates access to health care
- The professional is more qualified to follow certain treatments
- Reduce preoperative anxiety
- Speed up diagnostics
- self-directed care
The FDA authorizes the commercialization of an increasing number of devices: clicking here you will find a list of these medical products that incorporate AR/VR. Among the 39 listed, 2 companies have developed ophthalmological solutions based on the benefits of Virtual Reality.
Dicopt He has been developing VR for the treatment of lazy eye or amblyopia for years: one of our main objectives, in addition to seeking results, was to guarantee patient adherence to treatment. As? Designing several games with different levels that the patient overcomes as his visual performance improves. It seems that we have done well: Dicopt is already commercialized throughout Spain with very satisfactory results for both patients and professionals.