Demystifying VR: Virtual Solutions For Real Health

Virtual reality is coming back, and it's coming back with vengeance. Gone are the neon dreams of the 90's that trapped VR in the realm of Lawnmover Man inspired dreams and VirtualBoy nightmares. Today, VR is already infiltrating our social media with various headset-enabled ways of meeting friends from around the world. It also transports us to stadiums across the globe with VR sports integration. Not even video games are sa... wait, video games are exactly the one sphere we expected and wanted VR to affect. What we didn't expect, however, is that VR will be seen as something that has potential in medicine. Yet here we are, with experts in many countries looking into the possibility of using VR in healthcare.

Credit "PHOBOS"

Virtual Therapy Cures Real Life Problems

VR has a lot of potential for people involved in therapy. It allows the therapists (and researchers) to bring the complex physical world into a controlled environment. They have precise control over a number of physical variables that would influence behavior, as well the ability to record physiological and kinematic responses. VR allows not only control, but also the ability to stimulate (and adjust stimulation) to the patient. Keeping them motivated to actually do the exercise they need is very important, and immersion in VR environments helps this goal immensely. That is the idea behind such therapeutic software like MindMotionPro, meant to help stroke victims regain control of their paralyzed limbs. Usually, the exercises are really boring, butt VR is able to game-ify it and even trick the patient's brain into healing. And the scope of such therapy software is wide. For example, SnowWorld is a rather simplistic game of throwing snowballs while navigating icy environments. Yet the the impression of the cold from the game and the memories it evokes, as well as the general VR immersion, helps burn victims cope with the pain in skin stretching and wound cleaning procedures. The patients report up to 80% less pain during the procedure.

And the therapy is not limited to physiological. There are already institutions that are using VR to treat panic attacks. They simulate the situations that trigger said attacks and teach people how to cope with them. As mentioned before, this brings therapy into a lab environment, where variables can be measured, and where the immersion of the patient is very high. So it can be used to conquer fear of heights or spiders (and digital spiders can be as scary as the real ones - famously, there was a System Shock 2 modification that removed the spiders from the game). It's also working towards curing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in, say, soldiers. Traditionally, the patient has to relive the traumatic event while in the care of a clinician and learn how to cope with it. But PTSD sufferers might not want bring the memories back up - in fact, it's one of the symptoms. VR applications like Bravemind helps remove this hurdle in the process of healing. All in all, the potential of VR in therapy is huge!

Credit: Medical Realities

Operating On Digital People

Another great field that will benefit from VR is medical training. VR allows people to explore parts of the human body like never before. With a flick of the wrist, a user can remove or add layers of muscles, skin or other tissues, getting a more solid grasp of how a human is put together without cutting anyone open (though we doubt that it's going to replace that any time soon). After all, bodies are somewhat of a rare commodity; VR models are not. Even better, it can let students and doctors from around the world observe actual surgeries as if they were there - this has already happened with a surgery broadcasted all over the world in VR. And after viewing the model and the operation happen for real, the medical students can then try it for themselves in a VR program that simulates a surgery. Sim-K, for example, is used for practice of complex knee replacement surgeries - the haptics even simulate the vibration of the saw!

The Virtual Operating Threater

When the time comes to do the real thing, VR can help once again. Surgical Theater is already providing specialists with the tools they need to plan for the surgeries. If there's an upcoming brain surgery, the surgeons can don VR headsets and take a walk inside a model of the patient's brain, getting a good look at the tumor. Augmented reality takes over when it comes to doing the surgery. VIPAAR (HelpLightning nowadays) developed the app that used Google Glass to project phantom limbs of an assisting doctor to help the surgeon carry out the operation. And with Microsoft Hololens in the works, the future for augmented reality in medicine looks even brighter.

Credit: Surgical Theater

Education, therapy, surgery are just the biggest, most obvious spaces where VR will help medicine. There are many other applications, such as helping relieve outpatient stress and calm down homesick child patients. And we're still basically at ground zero of VR's resurgence. As technology matures and install base expands, we can expect to see many more advanced uses. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to ever completely eliminate the need to visit the dentist!