How virtual reality helps the patient
The modern era of virtual reality is a game-changer in the healthcare and medical industry. Virtual reality allows us to cross boundaries otherwise that would be unimaginable. It is used as an educating tool for doctors, healthcare professionals, medical students to easily understand the complex concepts in the medical industry. Moreover, there is a scientific study that proves that virtual reality alleviates the prospective patient’s ailment. Let you know about a few applications of virtual reality, that helps the patient to recover from diseases, anxiety, and how it aids in maintaining a healthy life.
Robotic Surgery
Robotic surgery is a new innovative emerging technology in the surgical sector. It integrates advanced computer technology with skilled surgeons. Robotic surgery enhances dexterity, and also restore exact hand-eye coordination, an ergonomic position. The robotic system delivers the surgeon with 10 x magnified, high definition, 3D image of the body’s intricate anatomy. The technology allows the surgeon to manipulate special surgical instruments that are smaller, flexible, as well as maneuverable than a human hand. The robot replicates the surgeon’s hand movements thus eventually aids the surgeon to operate with precision even during complex surgeries. This in turn significantly helps the patient to recover from ailments with less tissue damage, minimal blood loss, less pain, and small visible scars.
Mental Health Therapy and Rehabilitation
Virtual reality is a healing tool to diagnose and treat medical conditions from anxiety to chronic pain to Alzheimer’s disease. There is a scientific study to back up this claim. Virtual reality has been successfully used to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since 1990. Moreover, it also aids the prospective patient to overcome an alcohol addiction, Claustrophobia, and teenage depression. Virtual reality is primarily designed to aid exposure therapy, a treatment for anxiety disorders in which patients are exposed to anxiety-inducing stimuli in a safe, controlled environment eventually the patients get better from the particular threat by visualizing the instance which is not harmful. For example, a person with PTSD allows to revisit traumatic memories in virtual. Thus the patient quickly gains the confidence to get rid of depression.
Pain Management
There is a proven study by the University of Washington HIT Lab, that the patient engaged with virtual reality felt less pain than those who did not allow to relax with virtual reality. The study manifested that pain perception has a strong psychological component. It depends on a patient’s perspective about the pain. Since virtual reality involves the interaction of people with virtual environments, they feel less pain. Some virtual reality apps distract people’s attention from chronic pain. The students of Simon Fraster University have developed the Farmoo App, a virtual reality video game for cancer patients. The key role of the app is to distract teenage cancer patients from pain during chemotherapy treatments. Nobody can deny the fact that virtual reality is stress alleviating tool for patients. It aids the patient to get rid of stress and pain.
Physical Therapy
Virtual reality evokes physical and neurology therapists to come up with new brainstorming ideas for making the patient do physical exercises. Under medical research, patients do only 30% of the needed exercises during rehabilitation. Thus therapists make the patients do physical exercises with the combination of virtual games. Moreover, some physical virtual reality devices can track a person’s activity and even control their performance.
Medical Education
Virtual reality allows the patient to travel through their surgical plan by virtually stepping into their anatomy and pathology. It makes people easily understand their ailments and treatments. It educates the patient as well as tweak their perspective about complex surgery, Moreover, virtual reality helps autistic children, nearly 45% of children free from phobias after treatment.
Thus virtual reality delivers a 360-degree solution for the patient to get rid of their anxiety, phobias, ailments as well as enhances their well-being. If you’re a healthcare professional or practitioner, we are here to assist to achieve your creative vision.
