Virtual Reality Finds Many Uses in Medicine

MOSCOW — The virtual reality field reaches far beyond the gaming industry. In less obvious applications, VR is found in real estate for visualization of potential buyers; special applications and sets for schools; military simulators, etc., and even healthcare.

The main advantages of using virtual reality in the healthcare sector are lower training costs and a reduction in the number of medical errors. Our company, VRT World, based in Moscow, regularly visits a tuberculosis clinic for children to offer interesting age-appropriate VR-content. Of course, such actions find the most lively response. Now we are holding an Token Sale to raise funds for financing our other VR initiatives.

The range of virtual reality in the medical field is wide, here are just a few possibilities:

• Presentation of patient data in three-dimensional form (i.e. from X-ray machines), which improves the quality.
• Treatment of post-traumatic syndrome and/or phobias and rehabilitation, for example, in psychological care centers for veterans or recovery centers after a stroke. In the latter case, the patient wearing light VR-glasses can “catch” virtual objects, gradually improving coordination).
• Simulators for graphical information output and tactile feedback in pneumatic/hydraulic/electromagnetic systems, for example, highly realistic simulation of working with a scalpel (VR-headset + special glove) or, in a more general sense, mastery of skills through repetition of operations dozens of times, paying enough attention to complex places and keeping in mind various scenarios of events. It is less expensive and more humane (no real corpses, no experimental animals).
• In some U.S. medical institutions where whole labs are based on virtual reality. The National Library of Medicine in the U.S. can see the anatomical atlas in VR. The essence of such applications, simulators and interactive models is the exact reflection of the external and mechanical characteristics of the organs. They are great for helping students and find practical application commercially in scanning patients for an individual prosthesis, for example.

The following are a few specific examples of virtual reality use in healthcare. Last autumn, the California startup Osso VR won the EdSim Challenge simulating experience in orthopedics. This competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, with a prize of $.43 million. Osso VR also received special grants from IBM and Microsoft.

In 2002, Hunter Hoffman, a VR specialist from Washington University, and Joanne Dyfede, a psychiatrist at Cornell University, undertook treatment of post-traumatic syndrome in eyewitness accounts of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the WTC twin towers in New York City. They quickly reported their success, and the method is also effective against neurosis and phobias.

A VR-simulator for local anesthesia is being developed at the University of Aachen (FRG). It takes into account the mechanical features of the tissues, is equipped with a device of tactile communication, and uses meticulous scans. The student is free to “feel” the place where the injection will have to be checked, and whether or not he has hit the right nerve, etc.

Atkins and the charitable organization HealthCorps, both in the U.S., have joined forces to develop the game Sugar Goggles VR. The game is aimed at children, with the goal of bringing them the pluses of proper nutrition. In Sugar Goggles VR, children are shown how blood sugar levels decrease and increase depending on the food one eats. Sugar Goggles VR puts the player inside the vein, letting him “travel” through the vessels, while choosing different dishes to demonstrate how the blood reacts to them (i.e. a sudden jump in the sugar content due to the appropriate food).