Augmented Reality Trends in Healthcare Which Are Changing The Convention

No one today is unfamiliar with Augmented Reality.

Anyone that has either played the Pokemon Go game, experimented a cosmetic with the Loreal makeup app, or tried the Snapchat filter for puppy face, has interacted with the AR platform.

Well well, this visually enhancing technology isn’t just for gaming, entertainment or fun, it can be used as a boon to save a life!

You heard right. Augmented Reality trends in health and fitness business can be used in various ways that would be beneficial to mankind.

Augmented Reality allows you to have a vision that is beyond the bounds of any physical barriers.

AR can truly be said of having a vision for illusions.

One can visualize that which cannot be visualized by mere physical eyes. Hence it is known as a reality that is “augmented”.

It shouldn’t be confused with Virtual Reality, which actually creates a visual of something that is not real. Because Augmented Reality trends in healthcare add up features and visuals to enhance the real-life entity in front of your eyes.

What are the problems healthcare has to face today?

Before jumping to how Augmented Reality can benefit the Healthcare Industry, let’s understand what problems, is the Healthcare industry facing today.

The biggest problem any industry faces is the lack of personnel.

And when it comes to the healthcare industry,  it is very difficult to find learned and skilled care-takers, nurses, laboratory scientist, etc.

There are other geographies imposed challenges like the patient being in an off-beat location for ex. at an archeological site, or at a mountain excavation, where the medical team and equipment cannot reach.

Related: Why Hospital Management Portal Is The Need Of The Hour

Augmented Reality Trends in Healthcare Comes With All The Solutions

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However, we have a magical boon for solving such and many other medical limitations that are faced by the doctors to imply health and wellness upon humanity.

Here’s how Augmented Reality can be implemented in this domain. The following streams would be benefitted:

AR in Surgery

Medical surgery needs acute precision.

A doctor needs to undertake many risks during a surgical procedure such as deciding where to inscribe a cut/ slit supposing the position of the veins/ or any other internal body organs.

And this surgical inscription many times turns futile as the supposition goes wrong.

In such scenarios, Augmented Reality trends in healthcare can be very useful to surgeons.

AR can detect the accurate placement of the vein/ or internal organ, by converting a 2D image into 3D.

In another instance, if the patient is in a remote location where the surgeon cannot reach and it is high time to execute the surgery, the doctor sitting distinctly can view the patient’s physical functioning with the help of AR imagining.

By looking at the augmented image, the surgeon can guide the medical team besides the patient to undertake surgery in his presence on a video conference.

Currently, with the advancement of technology, AR benefits have already been availed to the patients.

For example, with the use of Help Lightning- VIPAAR, distinct specialty surgeons are able to project their hands sitting remotely into the display of another surgeon who is near the patient.

Medical equipment by EchoPixel allows doctors to render patient specific anatomy by viewing their 2 Dimensional CT images and display 3 Dimensional visuals that help in increased clinical knowledge, faster operations, and better care.

AR in Diagnostic and Treatment

While treating a patient, a doctor frequently needs to go through the patient’s records and data so as to execute the treatment successfully. In this case, the doctor has to divert his focus to the information kept beside the patient, on and often.

Instead, if Augmented Reality trends in healthcare are used here, the doctor can constantly view the analytical data in front of his vision without hindering the surgery/ treatment.

The important stats can be kept in line while treating the patient without losing attention from the patient.

The future in AR is commencing with the introduction of Microsoft Hololens.

This is going to tremendously change the diagnostics methods in medical history. It will be helpful in detecting several skin malfunctions and diseases like skin cancer, moles, lesions, acne, etc.

Doctors will be able to compare the improvements by visualizing the change by augmented visuals.   

In the near future, we might not even have to go visit the doctor in case of blue health, AR to no surprise can bring in methods that doctors sitting in their clinic can diagnose us while still in bed suffering from temperature or cold.

Download PDF to know other trends that will dominate healthcare industry in future

In this pdf, you will find

• Virtual Reality in Healthcare
• IoMT – Internet of Medical Things
• Blockchain in Medicine
• Telehealth
• Big Data and Artificial Intelligence

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AR aids in Data Visualisation

A patient’s past medical records and health reports play paramount importance in further treatment.

Especially in procedures like surgery, it is ideal to keep all the records in easy access.

However, while treating the patient, the doctor has to take his attention off the patient to access his/her past medical records and reports. This might affect the treatment adversely because most medical treatments need accuracy and attentiveness.

Augmented Reality trends in healthcare provide a solution to eradicate this cause.

A patient’s past data can be visualized on the patient’s body part where the treatment is taking place in a way that the doctor doesn’t need to take his attention off the patient.

He can then and there access all the past records in one dashboard in front of his vision. This saves him from going through a number of files showing the patient history.

It must be noted that this saves precious time during the emergency of the surgery.

Accuracy is non-negotiable in the medical field. In this way, AR can help in responding to the patient’s problem at a speedy rate.

Notably, this can spare the patient from access use of narcotic drugs that keep him/her sedated for the time decision is made by the doctor.  

Moreover, AR can also help in identifying repeating trends of symptoms and reactions by analyzing past reports of the patient and presenting in one dashboard.

AR in Medical Education/ Training

Practical learning is very essential in medical and healthcare studies.

Sadly, medical students are mostly lacking the on-hand practical state of art knowledge necessary to take before entering the industry.

Well now, AR training sessions for the medical studies will help students to grasp the topic with a practical approach as they can learn the 3D functioning of human anatomy.

AR learning creates an experience that is very engaging and enticing.

It combines several sensory inputs and retains grasping of complex concepts. This technology can help in training the medical staff remotely.  

In emergency situations also, Augmented Reality trends in healthcare are useful because training can be given to the untrained personnel nearby to handle the patient.

As in learning, AR is also bliss for the teachers. Explaining a 3-dimensional procedure by mere 2-dimensional images is not easy. 

AR helps in explaining how the human body functions by overlaying anatomical details on 3D printed human skeleton.

AR Boosts Trade

Well, a visual presentation can be indeed very helpful for doctors to take decisions for approving a new drug/ medicine.

When it comes to the medical representatives, they pursue hard to grab the physician’s attention in little time that they are granted.

Over here, Augmented Reality trends in healthcare can be used to better describe the benefits of the drug on the human body.

Visualizing a scenario is far more impactful than imagining the situation.

This small help of AR in the medical instrument and drug sale is going to make a vast difference in the industry. Pharmaceutical industries, medical reps, doctors, and patients everyone will be benefited through this.

This will also ease the acceptance of medicine by the patients because they will see the augmented visual of how the medicine will help the human body recover fast and effective.

All in all, this will definitely boost the sales in the medical domain ultimately resulting in the greener economy and pink health of the citizens.

Benefits to Doctors

Augmented Reality seems to be a perfect partner match for the Healthcare industry. It is high time they should get- together. Don’t you think so?

The key areas and functions of a doctor are namely: diagnosis, treatment, surgery, training young interns, analyze patient records.

We already read above how Augmented Reality trends in healthcare are helpful in diagnostics and treatment, in data visualization, medical training/education, and much more.

Ultimately, AR is a doctor’s best friend!

Eradicating miscommunications by explaining the treatment to patients by surgery simulations has become easy with the use of  AR.

Technology has always helped improve everyone’s lives.

Doctors, who are seen next to God, have to undergo a severe struggle.

Shouldn’t we use technology to ease out their difficulties?

Benefits to Patients

The sole agenda of the healthcare industry is to heal and satisfy the patient.

The professionals would go to the highest cost just to heal the patient and provide the best treatment possible.

As Augmented Reality is advancing to benefit the medical industry, patients are at the utmost profit as they would get all the benefits of the applied technology.

Foremost of all, treatment will be speedy and accurate.

Thanks to Augmented Reality trends in healthcare, doctors can have data visualization and advanced diagnosis which ultimately results in treating the disease at a speedy rate.

Another time when AR can be utilized is when the patient and his family wants to understand the surgery or treatment suggested by the doctor.

It is not easy to grasp the medical implementation as explained by the doctor verbally or just by seeing an image or video.

AR can be used to simulate the surgery for the patient and his/her family to understand its impact effectively. This also becomes easy for the doctors as they can convey their thoughts visually to the patients.

AR can be used for the in-patients or their family for navigating inside a big hospital, so that find an easy route for the frequent accesses to the emergency room, canteen, washrooms, and pharma store within.

Interestingly, AR can also be used to relieve the patient’s pains! I swear!

Gamification helps reduce stress and depression.

Many chronic and acute pains can be cured by AR and wearable devices and there have been examples to stand by this.

Even Phantom pain caused by the absence of a limb can be relieved to a great extent by the use of AR.

SnowWorld is a game specially designed for burn patients to heal and feel their pain reducing.

AR is used as the Mirror Treatment to help train improve muscle strength of the missing limb.

Phantom Limb Unrelenting Pain: Augmented Reality Treatment (PLUPART) and SPARK: an AR Physical Therapy Concept are examples to depict the power of AR.

Download eBook: Real life applications (Ex. AccuVein, Touch Surgery, etc.) of AR in the healthcare 

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What hinders the growth of AR in healthcare?

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Notwithstanding the tremendous usefulness of Augmented Reality trends in healthcare, it is not as easy as pie to implement and use AR. There are challenges to deal before getting hands on to AR.

Let’s see what is hindering Augmented Reality Trends in healthcare to put a step forward:

Monetary Issues

Augmented Reality being a fresher in the field, sponsors are still reluctant to invest in it.

For such an emerging technology, research, development, marketing, and support costs are at the top of the list.

But, however looking to its benefits, hospitals are increasing their budgets to incorporate such a useful high tech innovation.

Also, third-party companies and medical organizations are increasing their consideration of accepting AR.

Organization Issues

Every healthcare organization follows a stereotyped procedure of functioning and it is difficult to intervene or ask them to upgrade or adapt.

There are still places where paper records and charts are maintained for each patient; how can we expect them to upgrade to AR when they don’t even rely on computer systems.

Changes are not easy to adapt. But the truth is that there’s nothing permanent other than change.

Sooner or later, all medical and clinical organizations will have to welcome this change that will enhance the health and drug industry.

Lack of Knowledge

Many pharma industrialists, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and doctors do not have adequate knowledge of the trending technologies and this limits them from growing.

The biggest challenge in implying Augmented Reality trends in healthcare is surely the lack of knowledge.

How would people accept the technology when they don’t even know about technology?

It is high time to bridge the gap between knowledge and the field.   

Technical Limitation

This one is critical. Mostly all the medical setups are well established and settled since years, making a connection with the latest AR technology difficult.

To incorporate AR devices and wearables in the medical setup can be limiting because of the unmatched machine specifications.

AR aids better visualization by incorporating reality with a made-up image and mostly implementing AR is difficult because the resolutions of the available devices are varying and clashing.

Lack of Interest

People tend to be adamant. No one likes to change easily because change takes away one’s comfort zone.

Such people, may it be doctors or patients, don’t show any interest in improving healthcare procedures by adopting Augmented Reality trends in healthcare.

The reason for this disinterest can also be the curiosity that thinks about the side effects of this new technology.

People don’t accept new innovations at the very first interaction.

However, Augmented Reality trends in healthcare have been so talked about and also companies like Facebook, Oculus, Google, Sony, Samsung, etc are aggressively marketing it, that people are about to break the ice with AR.

Lack of Research Studies

In the excitement and enthusiasm, there are many who want to dive into the latest Augmented Reality trend in healthcare without carrying out proper research.

This is surely not the technology to experiment with.

Now that the internet and information are available all the time to whosoever, the opportunity must be grabbed and utilized to study new technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality and many more.

Policy Regulation Issues

Augmented Reality trends in healthcare are still new and the policies and regulations are age-old standardized.

Hurdles are posed by the regulatory agencies in the field that is a big scale struggle to cope up with.

Resistance to New Technology

Most of the population today consists of the baby boomers, and even most patients and health professionals tend to be of the age group between 40-70 years.

This generation is reluctant to adopt changes and especially when it comes to technology, they don’t want to try their hands on it.

It is easy to spread the importance and benefits of using the latest technology amongst the sprouting generation but oldies want to lie in their comfort zone.

This is emerging as a hurdle in Augmented Reality trends in healthcare to prosper.

Proper guidance and training will boost the acceleration of Augmented Reality and its acceptance in all the age groups.

Take A Step Forward With Augmented Reality Trends In Heathcare

Healthcare is something that cannot be ignored as it is life essential.

To take healthcare to an exceptional level and to raise the living standard to live a better and healthy life, we must welcome Augmented Reality trends in healthcare with open arms.

Are you ready to pioneer the healthcare industry with an AR app?