Until recently, augmented reality (AR) was used mostly for entertainment. However, this technology can do much more.
AR is paving its way into the field of healthcare application development with the promise to reimagine medical staff training and education along with patient diagnosing and treatment. The demand for augmented reality in healthcare will undoubtedly grow, as a recent Grand View Research report predicts a 40.9% CAGR growth for the global market for AR up to 2030.
There are multiple approaches to augmented reality development, and its many uses can support health specialists in their training and work as well as advance the delivery of quality care.
AR for reshaping medical training and education
Medical students are required to dive deep into the theory of human anatomy, pathology, and invasive procedures. However, it is also beneficial for them to understand the health issues in the real world and the ways to address them. AR brings interactivity into medical training and complements theoretic knowledge with case-based simulations.
Additionally, AR can introduce gamification into imaginary care cycles to help practitioners in their training. Medical students will be able to view various clinical cases and then apply different diagnostic and treatment techniques, replaying any case as many times as they need. Such apps can be installed on tablets, smartphones, or smart glasses, overlaying patient cases on any surface, including campus walls.
Experienced health specialists can certainly benefit from additional AR training as well, polishing their skills and refreshing their knowledge.
Augmented reality across the care cycle
Augmented reality in healthcare also has the potential to introduce paperless environments into admission, discharge, and transfer (ADT) processes, facilitate procedures, optimize surgeries, and support patients after discharge.
ADT through the looking glass
According to the UN data on aging, the number of people over the age of 80 globally is expected to triple: from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050. The aging population increases the burden on the healthcare system. To handle the increasing workload in hospitals, managers should first optimize basic procedures, such as ADT processes. Nursing staff should be able to perform certain tasks without heading to desktop EHRs and filling in paper forms every time. These could include managing patient records, preparing wards, keeping in touch with treatment plans, verifying dosing information, and requesting medical equipment.
AR apps designed for smart glasses are perfect for accomplishing this, allowing nurses to keep both hands free while making arrangements or interacting with a patient. Additionally, these apps can:
● Document initial patient information during the admission process. Nurses can assign a ward or a bed, fill in the admission questionnaire, record patient vitals, check insurance information, and contact fellow specialists.
● Ensure quality of care for patient stay via automated features. AR-based ADT apps can track care time and location, monitor task completion, and notify about treatment plan changes. Nurses can also double-check prescriptions and avoid improper dosing by sending requests to physicians.
● Facilitate discharge and transfer processes with pre-set checklists that guide nurses at every step. Everything can be done within the app.
Introducing AR into ADT will make related workflows reliable, with all processes in one place and under control.
Error-proof blood tests
Drawing blood from a patient is the basic way to find out what’s going on with their body, and this procedure can benefit from technological advancements too. AR provides a way to reduce the number of missed veins by using handheld scanners that use noninvasive infrared technology to show the vein system on a patient’s skin.
When the skin is scanned, the musculature appears red or green, and the veins are represented as dark lines. Health specialists can control the procedure with the vein finder, avoiding valves or bifurcations, and more successfully draw blood on the first attempt.
AR-guided surgeries
Surgeons use a variety of tools and still need to watch over the patient’s vital statistics while operating. AR in the form of smart glasses can significantly improve the surgeon’s focus and reduce the need to split attention between various monitors. All critical patient information and surgical site images are kept right before the surgeon’s eyes, helping to assure his or her concentration on the patient.
Some AR devices are designed with a specific focus, such as the spine. This technology creates 2D and 3D visualizations of the patient’s anatomy in axial and sagittal planes. It also tracks instruments and implants and supports navigation for both open and minimally invasive procedures.
This AR system also uses sensors that collect surgical data and provide it to machine learning engines to create alerts and suggestions, making the procedure even more controllable. Surgeons can achieve higher levels of precision in spine surgery, reducing the risk of complications, and succeeding even in complex cases of cervical pathologies, spinal traumas, skeletal deformities, and more.
Post-discharge support
AR in healthcare can make the post-discharge routine more comprehensive and even entertaining.
AR allows for interactive patient education in disease prevention and treatment. Patients often feel left out when they don’t quite understand their condition, which could reduce their engagement with subsequent therapy.
Medical practitioners can use AR apps on smartphones and tablets to demonstrate to the patient and caregivers what is happening within the body and how it can be treated. With all parties being informed and involved, they can contribute to the patient’s recovery in the best possible way.
Augmented reality apps on smart glasses can engage patients to take care of their health after discharge. Becoming their personal digital assistants, AR apps can notify patients of the need to take particular medications and encourage them to follow nutritional guidelines. They can also remind about the need to exercise and offer fun ways to get more active, like reaching out to pat a kitten or collect a coin.
Augmented future of healthcare becomes reality
While it hasn’t reached every corner of care delivery yet, augmented reality in medicine is a technology worth the investment. It is already being used to make healthcare safer and more precise.
The use of AR in education enables medical students to gain a better understanding of human anatomy, provides guidance for drawing blood, and helps health professionals navigate through complex spinal surgeries. We also anticipate that the future will bring in paperless environments across clinical and administrative processes and enable full-cycle post-discharge support. We expect that this technology will become the standard surgery assistance tool to reduce the number of preventable medical errors and complications.
About the author
Liza Dzhezhora is a Healthcare IT Analyst at Itransition, a custom software development company headquartered in Denver, CO. She looks into the ways IT technologies can streamline healthcare processes and explores how medical IoT, AI, robotics, and healthcare analytics help solve industry challenges.
