Published On: 3rd June, 2024
AUTHORED BY: DR. SIDDIQUA PARVEEN
Definition:
A technology known as augmented reality (AR) incorporates digital data into the user’s physical surroundings.
When simulated digital imagery is superimposed or mixed with the real world as seen through a camera or display, like a smartphone or head-mounted or heads-up display, the result is called augmented reality. It’s possible for digital images to interact with its real environment—typically under user direction. Mixed or blended reality is another term used to describe this.
Data Source: Statista
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History:
Augmented reality has quickly made inroads in healthcare. In 2020, doctors performed the first-ever spine surgery using an AR, head-mounted display. A 78-year-old patient was suffering degenerative spine disease that required lumbar decompression and the insertion of several screws. Surgeons wore the FDA-approved AR headset to visualize the patient’s CT scan as they operated and placed the implants with 100% accuracy.
Since then, neurosurgeons have used AR for hundreds of surgeries. It’s even been speculated that all surgeries could be performed with AR.
The best examples of augmented reality in medicine and healthcare:
1.Augmented reality can save lives by showing defibrillators nearby
2.Google Glass to help new mothers struggling with breastfeeding
3.Patients can describe their symptoms better through augmented reality
4.Nurses can find veins easier with augmented reality
5. Motivating runners through zombies
6. Pharma companies providing more innovative drug information
7. Augmented reality can assist surgeons in the OR
8. Hololens changing medical education and the study of anatomy
9. Teaching kids about the human body
The most impactful AR trends in healthcare:
- Robotic-assisted surgery – Combining robotic-assisted surgery AR enhances user The ability of AR to improve situational awareness will tremendously advance surgeons ability to make better decisions in real time.
- Wound care management – Augmented reality enables non-invasive assessment of wound parameters by providing visual feedback on the wound healing status.
- Physical therapy and Rehabilitation
- Access real-time patient records – AR technology is an efficient time saver that allows doctors to access patient charts from the EMR system and project details in their area of wisdom. Cloud-based data storage ensures that patient files are never misplaced, misfiled, damaged, or lost.
- Seamless hospital navigation – Using the patient’s phone cameras, AR places virtual arrows on top of the images of their actual surroundings in real time, enabling patients to navigate medical facilities with ease.
7 real-life applications and examples of AR in healthcare:
- Immersive and interactive medical training
According to an AAMC research, by 2034 there would be a projected 124,000 physician shortage in the United States. The primary cause of this is the increased requirement for machinery, tools, and equipment in order to give workers immersive training. Nonetheless, AR’s virtual training and 3D annotations offer deeper insights into how the human body works.
AR is already being used by several organizations to instruct students and improve their professional skills. Case Western Reserve University in Ohio using 3D augmented reality annotations on Microsoft HoloLens devices to study human anatomy.
- Training physicians on new therapies
Many life-science enterprises are using AR to educate care providers about the latest therapies and drugs to improve treatment outcomes and improve patients’ health. Companies can create compelling 3D annotations and illustrations and provide paperless manuals and digital work instructions for a specific procedure.
Rational decision-making and future research and development can benefit from the data that AR-capable physicians gather.
The researchers at Sygnature Discovery are searching for cutting-edge medications that can expedite patient recovery by employing smart glasses and 3D augmented reality annotations.
- Virtualizing therapies
Using AR, surgeons can provide digital instructions, step-by-step SOPs, key deviations, and 3D models of complex surgeries to help them plan and carry out their procedures.
The step-by-step SOPs will give surgeons a detailed view of the operation to conduct an in-depth virtual analysis of the process.
The Xvision Spine System, created by Augmedics in Chicago, is an AR surgical guidance system that enables doctors to accurately diagnose patients by “seeing” their anatomy through the skin, much like an x-ray. During spine surgeries, surgeons can also correctly navigate instruments and implantations with the help of this platform.
- Accurate symptom detection
It might be difficult for many individuals to discuss their problems with their doctors. Some may give very little information about them, while others may exaggerate them.
This could result in confusion, incorrect diagnosis, improper medical care, and inaccurate dose of medicines.
However, with the help of AR, healthcare centers can provide patients with a handy way to check their symptoms and current status, connect with a doctor in real-time through telehealth and receive advice.
Using a camera display, the EyeDecide AR app simulates eye exams and problems, provides patients with the necessary remedies, and identifies the most suitable physician for their care.
The software analyzes medical images, notes symptoms, provides a description of the patient’s eye condition, and recommends the best course of action. This makes it simpler for medical professionals to assess patients’ complaints. Additionally, the patient feels as though there is no communication gap and that no important conversation between the patient and the medic is lost.
5. Patient self-care
AR solutions are more advantageous in two areas: physiotherapy and physical rehabilitation. Doctors and physiotherapists can digitally depict their body movements to help patients regain their health through remote assistance.
These augmented reality apps contain all the information about surrounding medical facilities, including hospitals, so physicians may supervise patients from remote areas. It’s easier for physicians to diagnose patients correctly when they use AR-based self-care applications.
Know My Heart is one of the applications designed to enable patients’ pulse rate by themselves and detect possible atrial fibrillation.
Figure 4
6. Vein visualization
Many patients find that getting blood drawn or having shots administered to them is an uncomfortable and painful procedure, particularly if the medical team initially fails to find the vein. However, nurses can now spot veins and take blood more easily because of AR portable scanners and near-infrared imaging.
AccuVein’s vein finder uses AR technology to find veins on the first try for an IV or drawing of blood. The vein finder is a portable device with a digital laser projection, scanner, and processing system that helps examine the patient faster.
Figure 2
Figure Source: https://www.accuvein.com/
7. Medical imaging
With augmented reality (AR) technology, medical practitioners can overlay digital data on actual medical pictures, such CT and MRI scans. Physicians can more accurately plan treatment methods, detect anomalies, and have a better understanding of a patient’s condition by superimposing 3D annotations and visual clues onto these photos.
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Augmented Reality in the Clinic
As the technology improves, augmented reality has lots of potential to impact medicine. Augmented reality may find its way into the primary care clinic, operating room, emergency room, and dental office. Doctors could use it, for example, to plan plastic surgeries and other complex operations. They also could use it to help guide them during surgeries of various kinds.
Augmented reality involves the use of software technology to enhance the real-world environment, says Thomas Hopkins, MD, CMO for AccuVein.
AccuVein is one example. According to statistics, Hopkins—who is also an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Duke University Health System—the augmented reality technology facilitates communication between medical professionals and their patients.
Health providers are more likely to get it right the first time, lowering the risks of extra needle pokes while saving time.
Augmented Reality in the Operating Room
Augmented reality is just starting to find its way into higher-stakes medical care. In June 2020, neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore announced the first augmented reality surgery. A doctor used it to help place six screws during a spinal surgery to help with serious back pain. Soon after, they used it to remove a spinal tumor from someone else.
Using a headset equipped with a display that the doctors could see through to the patient, the augmented reality technology was used. It enabled them to simultaneously view images from CT scans and X-rays, for example, by projecting them onto the body. It appears as though surgeons have X-ray vision as long as those pictures are perfectly aligned.
Leading the procedures was neurosurgeon Timothy Witham, MD of Johns Hopkins, who describes how the device functions in the operating room like a GPS. Alternatively, physicians could try their best at screw placement “freehand.”
Every technique has advantages and disadvantages, he claims. “Its speed is its primary advantage. However, it calls for the most advanced anatomical knowledge and experience, as it is done nearly blindly using anatomic landmarks.
It’s possible to use an X-ray, but that means radiation exposure for you and your surgeons. Witham says he’s now using augmented reality tools routinely instead. He’s found it allows for 98% accuracy, which is at least as good as any other method.
One reason for its early use in spinal surgery is that the spine’s rigid structure makes it easy to link computerized images correctly with the body. Witham thinks it would be more difficult to utilize for surgeries on other parts of the body, such as the chest or abdomen, where movement makes it more difficult to maintain alignment between the virtual and physical worlds.
Augmented Reality in Medical Education
Although many medical applications are still in the early stages of development, medical students and residents currently routinely employ augmented reality.
Teachers and students at NYU Langone employ augmented reality techniques to access learning resources and gain knowledge of human anatomy. They may, for instance, rotate around a thorough 3D model of the heart on a phone or computer. They can scan a QR code in the lab for human anatomy.
— on a cadaver they’re researching in order to learn more about what they’re witnessing, such as pertinent lectures or recordings of surgery.
Practical use cases of AR in healthcare:
- AR in Bioinformatics
AR can be utilized to create powerful and easily understood visualizations of intricate proteins.
This simplifies data analysis in bioinformatics.
- AR in pharmaceutical marketing
AR presents an incredibly outstanding opportunity to pharma companies to showcase their marketing materials. For example, customized AR software can be used can be used to create a 3D model of the human heart to demonstrate how a particular drug functions and its effects post intake.
- AR-based telemedicine
One of the best example for this is training unskilled users to perform ECG tests. Through interactive virtual stimulations powered by AR, untrained users can interact with the ECG device and understand how to place ECG electrodes on the patients chest.
- AR-aided collaborative surgeries
Platforms like Propio combine AR and machine learning to generate 3D medical images with extra precision, allowing medical experts located anywhere to team up, discuss surgical tactics and perform the procedure successfully.
- AR in prenatal, neonatal and postnatal care
The Australian Breastfeeding Association utilizes AR to develop engaging tutorials featuring key concepts related to breastfeeding, such as guidance and counselling services for new moms.
The Future of AR in Healthcare:
The healthcare industry as a whole stands to benefit greatly from augmented reality, from bettering disease detection, diagnosis, and treatment to enhancing the training of the future generation of medical professionals.
Ultimately, AR can help to improve patient care; a universal benefit for us all.
- AR in dental practice
From a clinical perspective, maxillofacial, orthognathic, oral and implant surgeries will be increasingly aided by AR in coming years. In endodontics procedures, video tools optimized using AR are being used to detect orifices for accessing root canals. AR uses 3D image-based tooth-tracking to assist dentists with orthodontic bracket placement.
The ability of AR to enhance spatial visual perception will go a long way in pre-clinical practices.
- AR for psychomotor skills training
In the medical field, AR training tools make it easier to develop spatial and psychomotor skills. An interactive AR hand hygiene training tool for healthcare workers developed by a team of researchers from Ireland and Scotland enabled 81% of participants in the pilot program to attain proficiency after 2 minute practice sessions.
- AR to gamify workout sessions
AR can lower healthcare costs considerably, save thousand of livesand improve our standard of living drastically. With augmented reality (AR) apps like FitTech, you can work out with people virtually, even when you’re working out from home. Apps such as Zombies run, can gamify daily running tasks motivating users to take their health more seriously.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6658230/
- https://fda.gov/medical-devices/digital-health-center-excellence/augmented-reality- and-virtual-reality-medical-devices
- https://medicalfuturist.com/augmented-reality-in-healthcare-will-be-revolutionary/
- https://webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/augmented-reality-medicine
- https://futurevisual.com/blog/benefits-augmented-reality-healthcare/
- https://fingent.com/blog/augmented-reality-in-healthcare-use-cases-examples-and- trends/