Creating Immersive Experiences in Healthcare and Clinical Research
The announcement about the launch of the “Vision Pro” headset is Apple’s debut in mixed reality space with this new headset. Indeed, this is the most breathtaking news in the tech industry of recent times!
But what if the immersive technologies of Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Augmented Reality (AR) had already been put into practice in healthcare and clinical research industries?
The first use of VR, AR, and MR in healthcare was in the early 1990s to train surgeons for complex procedures and provide real-time information. Due to becoming more affordable and accessible in the latest times, VR, AR, and MR have become revolutionary technologies assisting various medical operations and have a huge development potential in managing clinical trials!
How are VR, AR, and MR applied in medicine?
The integration of these technologies in healthcare has been gaining popularity in several main directions:
● Medical Training: Healthcare professionals can practice complex procedures in a safe environment, enhancing their skills and knowledge without needing actual patients.
● Surgical Planning and Visualization: Providing detailed 3D models of patient anatomy through VR, AR, and MR technologies assists surgeons with visualizing patient-specific data, such as CT or MRI scans. During surgeries, AR can project vital signs or intraoperative guidance onto the surgeon’s field of view, aiding in precise execution.
● Pain Management and Rehabilitation: Using VR to transport patients to more calming realities and even creating hypnosis effects can help patients get distracted from the pain and reduce anxiety among patients going through medical procedures or physical therapies. Also, VR provides patients with interactive exercises and simulations to enhance their motor and cognitive abilities.
● Mental Health Treatment: Through VR, therapists expose patients to virtual environments that trigger their specific fears or traumas and can conduct exposure therapy in a controlled and gradual manner, facilitating the therapeutic process. This approach helped to face and treat phobias and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Implementing VR, AR, and MR in Clinical Research
The application of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions, particularly in decentralized clinical trials, plays a crucial role in telemedicine. One emerging area of interest is the utilization of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies in Virtual Reality Clinical Trials (VRCRs).
Virtual Reality (VR) enhances engagement and outcomes in VRCTs by simulating trial scenarios, procedures, and interventions with consistent conditions and standardized stimuli. Data collection occurs within the virtual environment. Mixed Reality (MR) blends virtual elements with the real world, overlaying objects and instructions for realistic and applicable trial interventions. Augmented Reality (AR) provides real-time guidance with instructions, cues, and markers, enabling accurate task execution and monitoring.
How are each VR, AR, and MR Technologies Applied to the processes of conducting Clinical Trials?
• Improve patient recruitment: VR and AR create immersive experiences that simulate the trial environment that improve patient recruitment by giving potential participants a better understanding of the trial. For example, a VR simulation could allow a potential participant to experience what it would be like to undergo a medical procedure being studied in the trial.
• Data Collection: VR and AR collect data about patient symptoms, progress, and treatment adherence. For example, a VR headset could track patients’ eye movements to see if they show signs of boredom or fatigue during a therapy session.
• Providing real-time guidance: This ensures that participants follow the trial protocol correctly and know potential risks. An AR headset displays instructions for taking medication or warning a participant about a possible side effect.
• Creating mixed reality environments: MR creates mixed reality environments that blend virtual elements with the real world, providing participants with a realistic trial experience, especially assisting during trials that involve physical activity or interaction with medical equipment.
• Assess treatment outcomes: AR technology simulates a patient’s daily life after receiving a new treatment. This would allow researchers to see how the treatment affects the patient’s ability to function in everyday life and identify any potential side effects.
• Giving real-time feedback: AR can provide real-time feedback to participants during the trial. This can help improve the participants’ understanding of the trial and ensure they are comfortable with the treatment.
• Post-Market Safety Surveillance: AR, VR, and MR can be used to improve communication between patients, healthcare providers, and manufacturers. This helps ensure that patients are receiving the best possible care. Moreover, AR can provide real-time feedback to healthcare professionals about patient progress. This can help identify potential problems early on and take corrective action.
What challenges can AR, VR, and MR technologies face when applied in decentralized clinical trials?
Access to technology:
Participants not having access to the technology and devices needed to engage with AR, VR, or MR technologies can limit their ability to participate fully in decentralized trials and fully utilize these immersive technologies.
User experience and comfort:
Some participants may find wearing VR headsets uncomfortable or experience motion sickness. AR devices may obstruct the participant’s vision or cause visual fatigue.
Data security and privacy:
Collecting, storing, and transmitting participant data in decentralized trials involving AR, VR, or MR technologies must adhere to strict data security and privacy protocols.
Summary:
In clinical trials, VR, AR, and MR technologies hold great potential for enhancing efficacy and revolutionizing healthcare and clinical research. These immersive technologies have proven their worth in medical training, surgical planning, pain management, rehabilitation, and mental health treatment. Moreover, their application in clinical research, particularly in decentralized trials, can improve patient recruitment, data collection, real-time guidance, mixed reality environments, treatment outcome assessment, feedback provision, and post-market safety surveillance. However, challenges related to access to technology, user experience, comfort, and data security and privacy need to be addressed for successful integration. Despite these challenges, the future looks promising for the utilization of VR, AR, and MR technologies to transform the landscape of clinical trials and improve patient outcomes.