Once only seen as a gamer’s paradise, virtual reality has started to make its way into other industries. The revolutionary technology has been gaining much more attention over the years, and people are starting the realize the many applications of a simulated three-dimensional experience in an environment with no interference to the real world (Sreekumar 2019).
Nowadays we have reached the point where high quality VR experiences are available at reasonable prices. The first VR tests were done in the late 1990s, however the technology itself wasn’t necessarily affordable to the masses until around 2015. Head mounted displays (HMDs) started to be developed around that time, making the use of VR much more casual, dropping the price in consequence. Thanks to devices such as the Oculus Rift, HTC vive, etc., VR is a much more accessible, and comfortable tool.
Figure 1: Above is the newest version of the Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display
VR is utilized in almost every field, from style and design to education and medical services (Itd Rand 2020). Globally, the market for VR is on track to hit upwards of $3.8 billion(Visualise 2018). In The healthcare industry was one of many to pick up on the technology’s applications fast. VR is valued to grow up to $1.4 billion by 2023, and to at least $641 million just in the U.S healthcare market alone (Entertainment Close-Up 2016). healthcare, VR is being used to help train future surgeons, change the way we treat mental health, and so much more for patients’ care. There continues to be amazing examples of VR having a positive effect not only on a doctors’ work but also the patients’ experience.
Virtual Reality Simulating Medical Education
Virtual simulators continue to prove their invaluableness to medical institutions, curbing the cost of medical training that hits almost $15 billion a year in the US. A surgeon can practice a full procedure in real time, with the same visual and physical feedback to that of a real procedure. A study was done on training laparoscopic surgery through VR to first- and second-time surgeons, meaning surgeons who had and some who had not done the surgery before. The study revealed that the technical skills learned through the simulator are relevant to the surgery and can shorten the learning curve of first-time surgeons (Aggarwal R 2006).
Elara systems is a company that makes virtual animations for training experiences relating to trauma and emergency room situations, as well as surgical training. The technology allows for students to go experience the fast-paced environment of an ER with no real-world consequences. Students are able to asses and decide what needs to be done to stabilize the patient’s condition.
Figure 2: An Example of Elara Systems' 3D Graphics
Training in VR allows for students to have effective practice without being at risk of wasting materials or harming a patient. The care-free and distraction-free zone that VR creates, makes for the best learning environment, which is why companies across the world are focusing more on creating virtual simulations. Medical schools have been hesitant to commit to adding VR to their curriculum in fears of adding something that doesn’t live up to its promise.
Virtual Reality for Mental Health
It was 1997 when VR was first used by Georgia Tech University as an exposure treatment to help treat soldiers with PTSD (Miller MR 2019). Ever since then, we have been continuing to explore the use of VR simulations as a treatment option for mental disorders. Many people that have commonly known disorders, such as severe anxiety, depression, addiction, phobias etc., have shown better responses to VR exposure therapy as opposed to other traditional, common treatment (Papagiannakis G 2018).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a treatment that has been used for years to help mental disorders. The therapy is intended to help the patient identify the problem, and change the patterns associated with such. VR can now simulate many of these stimuli in a safe and controllable way to conduct a different, often more safe, exposure with a patient (Kron FW). VR, which is considered an immersive, multi-sensory technology has been proven to elicit the same behavior from someone in a virtual scenario as they would in a physical, real-world scenario (Borst 2006). This tells us that we can create scenarios that would motivate the behavior changes we would like to see out of a specific patient. For example, you can introduce the feared stimuli of a patient to them, let’s just say spiders, and overtime, the patient starts to show both emotional and physical changes in their response to the stimuli. Study was conducted just on those with a fear of flight, and after 8 sessions over 6 weeks, 93% of the original participants had flown(Rothbaum BO 2000). Bravemind is a VR program that helps doctors gradually expose PTSD patients to their triggers, which is also completely personalized to the patient’s trauma (Prototype 2020).
Regardless of the evidence supporting how effective VR exposure therapy (VRET) is, it is highly underused as treatment at this time. Therapists that are experienced in VRET are trying to push this technology up in the field and are helping in the development of new content (Gutierrez-Maldonado 2013). It’s important that VRET training is added to the curriculum of medical school programs, as it is a crucial tool in addressing the mental health of many.
Virtual Reality for Pain Management
VR does not just help our doctors become better at treating us, but it also helps us be in a better position to get treated. VR has been used during painful outpatient medical procedures as a form of analgesia, as opposed to the use of opioids (Li A 2011). In clinical studies is has been shown that when patients use VR while undergoing outpatient procedures, such as burn care, they experience lower levels of pain and overall distress (Manag 2011). It has also been used on children ranging from ages 10-17 years old, that are undergoing chemotherapy, and 82% of them stated they would prefer undergo treatment with the VR in the future (Manag 2011).
Chronic pain has been a huge issue in our society, and a lot of the treatments given include pills that may not necessarily be needed in the volume they are given. This has led to an increase in the number of people addicted to various pain-killers, and to the opioid crisis at large, which claims the lives of 115 people per day. There have only been studies conducted on patients with neuropathic pain. This pain is caused by something that damaged the sensory neurons responsible for changes that happen to the surface or inside the body (Stănică I-C 2019). One study revealed a 69% reduction in pain for patients while they were undergoing the VR treatment, and a reduction of at least 53% after the treatment had ended (Pain Res 2019). For comparison, morphine is said to reduce pain by 25 to 30%.
The opioid epidemic has caused over $95 billion in expenses to both hospitals and families. The impacts have touched us all on an emotional, physical, and financial level. It’s important that the medication and/or treatments we are giving to the public bring positive impacts to our society. VR has proved time and time again that it can ease pain and distress among outpatient procedures far more efficiently than its traditional counter treatments. You can’t help but think if VR was more widely adopted as a form of pain management, that it might slight the curve in the opioid epidemic.
Conclusion
VR has come a long way, and definitely has been proven to be a necessary and useful tool for the future of medicine. All eyes are on the world of VR, the applications are endless and yet they have only just started. It will only become more and more cost efficient, and the safe, interactive training it provides is unmatched. With companies dedicated to just the 3D graphical design, the realism will only get better with time. Medical schools are facing lots of pressure to bring VR into their classrooms, and it’s only a matter of a few more studies supporting the training to give them the confidence to commit. Therapists around the world are starting to see the positive impact VR can have on handling some mental disorders. The training for those therapists to host that treatment is becoming more abundant, and soon people will have exposure therapy options more accessible to them. It’s about time we start teaching people how they may be able to combat the emotions and experiences they have, rather than just cope with them. The opioid crisis has been unbothered for too long, and VR has shown it is here to disrupt that market. VR is a far more sustainable pain management option as well as being two times as effective than opioids. This is just the beginning for VR in healthcare. With the abundance of breakthrough treatments in regard to VR experiences, the widespread adoption and use of the technology is soon to come.
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