Remember the bedtime stories of Cinderella, The Red Riding hood you might have heard from you’re your granny or mommy. Have you ever thought of why these fiction stories or make believe had been written? These are the unique visualization of various writers who create fascinated stories that engage, entertain and teach a good moral through their sequence. This ability of visualization has come a long way today.
In our modern age of technological developments, visualization has been elevated from the books to cartoons, videos, films and Virtual Reality (VR). It is the technological platform of creating artificial imaging environment that is a new different world in its own. It as sounds, story background, our role and the flow of the movement. VR is used in various industries of entertainment, film making, education, training and development, and healthcare respectively.
Medical researchers have made certain noticeable advancements with the application of VR.
Role in Medical Education
The VR platform is set and synchronized to the process of medical applications pertaining to the curriculum. The topics taught in the theory are practiced in VR platforms which are developed with steady progressions of the levels based on the activities performed by the medical students.
The VR showcases the human body internal system with the movements of various parts equipped with sounds and color effects. It speaks of the tasks to be identified and performed. An audio commentary can be customized to guide the student in performing the tasks easily. All the possibilities of their actions are recorded and integrated into the platform. The effects of their actions are soon shown with the related results.
VR provides the virtual perspective giving the feel of the actual body structure. This helps the students practice on the artificial ecosystem than performing on a dead body. Medical students stand to benefit the practical experience from this VR platform. It has the facility of the teachers or professors also attend the session to guide and direct the students in performing the required tasks of the medical procedures.
Surgical Preparation
On identifying the surgeries that are required, the surgeons perform mock surgeries in the virtual environment. VR system helps the surgeons in eliminating the practical drawbacks, initiating faster learning. The long training hours and tedious practice sessions using costly artificial bodies are now eliminated due to VR surgical platform. In a 3D virtual environment, surgeons perform surgeries using haptic controllers. It has the software mentor which guides the surgeons to perform the procedures in a systematic step-by-step approach.
Effective Pain Management
While treating patients of critical illnesses or ailing patients, VR has helped get the patient involved in the virtual environment where they are engaged in the core aspects of the function, helping to reduce the pain or cope with the pain. The VR system application helps in a different approach that might be minimizing the use of harmful painkillers and reducing the healthcare costs.
Boosting Rehabilitation
VR applications in the rehabilitation processes of cognitive rehabilitation, physical therapy and neurological rehabilitation are steadily becoming popular. The virtual system gets the patients involved in gamified feel, instigating them to make efforts for better results in the virtual system goals. The AI guided system offers proper support making it a cheaper and time-bound rehabilitation process.
Influencing Physical Therapies
In the post-operative procedures of orthopedic exercises and the post-injury recovery process, VR is said to have been applied in engaging the patients in doing specific essential exercises. The VR module guides the patients in the interactive virtual set-up, which is supported with the music and visual elements to guide the patient in performing the exercises. The system counts the exercises and gives the ‘mentors feedback’.
This keeps the patients motivated and focused in the schedule of the exercises. The system is powered by AI applications that study patient patterns and inspire them to do more exercises in their daily target. The VR system acts as a mentor to drive the patients to a steady recovery with active involvement in the dynamic environment. The VR system is heard to be effective in the recovery process of adaptation to prosthetics, sports injuries and child care treatments.
Visualizing a Progressive Reality
The role of VR has made a gradual and noticeable contribution in the healthcare field. It has been an important practice platform in virtual training that had helped in changing the psychological perspective of the patients through their active engagement. The role in enabling the patients to isolate the health condition, simplify the process, and change the natural process of recovery has opened a new ray of hope in the recovery process. Though there is a lot more to be done in the research of AR, we can confidently smile at the positive impact it is creating in the healthcare industry.
