Virtual Reality Technology for Healthcare Purposes

Technology has become a vital element in the improvement of healthcare. It is, in fact, inevitable truth since the pandemic situation has created another factor that pushes healthcare forward with its facilities. In this case, one apparent enhancement healthcare services concern the most relies on their infrastructure to give better training and simulation for medical staff. Based on the study published on https://www.has-sante.fr/jcms/c_2626164/fr/evaluation-des-infrastructures-de-simulation-en-sante, a regular evaluation of these simulation infrastructures are of utmost importance.

Among many healthcare simulations tools, virtual reality comes out to be one of the best. Virtual reality application initially is available in the complex data sets visualization formed by Computer Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In this case, virtual reality techniques, such as surround sound and three-dimensional imaging, have various excellent usage, including diagnosis, treatment, and medical education. Recent developments in methodology have brought the specificity and relevancy of this system closer to the level of optical colonoscopy, and patients favor this procedure to the traditional method.

Phobia Therapy

One of the advanced purposes for virtual reality in healthcare is its extensive treatment for phobia and post-traumatic disorder. This therapy has shown its effectiveness when working in an academic setting, and numerous industrial facilities now propose it to patients. As one of many papers discussing the multi-user virtual reality setting of Second Life utilization, an electronic psychosis environment has become one of the many easily accessible online virtual reality situations. This one helps to train medical students about the visual and sensory hallucinations suffered by people with schizophrenia.

Healthcare Education and Simulation

The second crucial part of the virtual reality purposes in medical facilities is its usage in giving healthcare education and simulation in emergencies situation. As seen during this pandemic’s situation, healthcare staff are the most needed people to fight the virus. Thus, it is impossible to close the medical education. In this situation, virtual reality can help those medical students to prepare their readiness to learn how to treat patients in a safe environment simulation. Moreover, this simulation can also benefit the healthcare staff to face too dangerous or too rare cases with compelling real-world training. More importantly, the virtual reality experience has its immersive nature to recreate the sense of urgency or stress associated with these events.

Healthcare Emergency Simulation

Besides education and simulation, virtual reality can help healthcare staff professionals to deal with mass casualties and disaster emergencies. One research has created a protocol to train clinicians to treat people affected by mass chemical incidents. Other cases involve those affected by biological agents with simulated patients. 

Although the standardized patients’ use was beneficial in this particular training, there are more advantages to use live computer simulations, including improved cost-effectiveness. Besides, these tools can give the same training sessions repetitively to upgrade skills, use real-time learning techniques, and convey the training session at any place and time, providing the type and level of experience required to use it in other emergency responders. Another possibility of training emergency medical responder also uses virtual reality. In this case, their purposes were to enhance exposure to real-life emergencies to improve decision-making and performance and reduce psychological stress during an actual health care disaster.