Can you believe that 150 years ago, doctors didn’t even know they were spreading bacteria and germs through their hands? And can you believe that organ transplants were still a relatively new concept 50 years ago? And to think that in today’s world, we use artificial intelligence and even immersive technologies during reconstructive surgery - it is just mind-blowing.
Indeed, the potential of AR has already been visible across many industries, from education to art to manufacturing and so on. However, its application within healthcare has been particularly noteworthy.
In fact, present-day clinical practice is advancing at the speed of light. On account of its versatility, AR is becoming more accessible and affordable for medical education, dentistry, medical imaging, and even nurses’ training.
Augmented reality can be a valuable help in improving a medical professional’s ability to diagnose, treat, and perform patient care. All of these will ultimately enhance care quality and patient experience.
It is believed that the innovative AR trends in the health system are predicted to act as a godsend that will help healthcare professionals overcome a variety of medical impediments. Whether it is due to limited access to diagnostic imaging, the lack of real-time access to medical records, or the challenge of dealing with limited resources.
One of the most significant advancements of AR in the medical field is none other than robotic-assisted surgery. Can you believe that we are now at the point of allowing robots to operate on us? Believe it or not, such systems have enhanced surgical precision and dexterity more than any human being while also providing better access to minimally invasive methods.
Right now, robotic-assisted surgery systems have been introduced in fields like hepatic surgery, liver resections, 3D rendering, and preoperative imaging. However, the sector that is thought to be completely transformed in the coming years by augmented reality is intraoperative reconstruction.
Even more so, when it comes to wound care management, the traditional methods used to evaluate lesion parameters are mostly inaccurate, rough, and might even be painful for the patient. Here comes in handy AR technology. It enables a non-invasive analysis of injury parameters by coming up with visual feedback on the healing condition of the wound. AR-based wound healing evaluations provide us, as patients, with a better understanding of our affliction and help doctors propose the appropriate follow-up therapies and exercises. And that’s not all! It can also allow nurses to better dress the injury.
The integration of AR in the medical field can also be observed in regard to physiotherapy and behavioral treatment. Augmented reality technologies would improve physical outcomes making us, the patients, more engaged in the treatment process. This will result in us being more motivated to complete our recovery, even when discharged at home.
And we can’t forget that besides patient care, AR can be implemented to aid the doctor’s work with paperwork. We all know that this is a critical issue, not only in the medical field. But with AR technology, everything becomes as simple as just scanning the QR code on the patient’s wristband. For this reason, with AR glasses and interactive charts, doctors and nurses will have easier access to the patient’s records which are retrieved from the database.
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