The Case for AR/VR Applications in Healthcare and Biopharmaceuticals

While currently being applied mostly in the gaming and entertainment industries, two of the largest projected growth sectors for augmented and virtual reality are the education and healthcare spaces. Groundbreaking AR/VR technologies are primed to take over the healthcare sector, with full-body mapping and surgery simulations taking the lead. This transformative field should extend into the biopharmaceutical industry as well, and will be essential for the continued growth of both.

While being a relatively new addition to the healthcare field, AR and VR applications have already begun to solidify themselves as important players for the future. The most interesting model can figuratively put you inside a human body, allowing you to see a scaled up version of every layer of the body imaginable — be it bone, specific organs, or even processes on the molecular level. For students and working physicians alike, this ability to visualize body systems and anatomy adds a unique, new dimension of education to the mix, allowing for a simplified learning process.

Additionally, virtual reality can be used to create an artificial representation of a surgery, showing a to-scale or enlarged picture of the desired model. A surgeon can interact with this projected environment in real time to simulate the process needed for successful completion, as well as to diagnose potential pitfalls and complications that may arise during the procedure. As this is a program, there is no exhaustion of material supply, and the practice can be repeated an infinite number of times. Looking forward some years, AR applications will expand into the operating room as well. When the surgeon puts on a pair of smart glasses, sensors around the room will place an information overlay on top of the patient, visually aggregating information on the current state of the patient. This layered display will show problem spots at different levels in the patient’s body, and a list of the surgical steps to be taken will appear alongside a real-time progress feed.

Though the applications for current and aspiring physicians can be readily seen, it is a bit murkier for biopharma. The previous VR models could be considered to aid visualization of the upstream or downstream bio-processes being used in trials, but emerging AR technologies are more useful here. Another information overlay could be introduced to ease maintenance and operations for automated processes and tests, as well as to provide better stability for the human/machine interaction.

That being said, the heaviest case for VR/AR introduction in biopharmaceuticals is in the sales side of the sector. Sales representatives could enhance their pitch with a clear, intuitive model of the drug’s purpose inside the human body. The untreated condition could be accurately mapped, followed by the step-by-step molecular interaction of the drug with the body, finishing with a model of the completed treatment. This sequential introduction could accelerate the understanding of potential investors or shareholders, and provide more willingness to invest in the product. This process can also be applied to physicians for education purposes. A representative could create a more informed presentation, directly outlining the new procedures in visual form in order to facilitate familiarization with the drug.

Though the future seems bright for AR/VR in these fields, do not expect for them to completely supplant the current status quo. There is still a need for tangible materials in the education process since the projections described are just that, projections. A VR headset can mimic what a physician might see or hear during the process, but there is currently no way for the program to mimic the sense of touch. No anatomical textures could realistically be copied, meaning no resistance against the scalpel being held when making an incision, for example. You could familiarize yourself with the techniques required in the surgery, but you could not reliably practice nuances such as how much force to use in each step, or what an afflicted or clean area feels like. The technology has not currently caught up with the possibilities, but the integration of AR/VR with existing training practices is vital to current and future growth in these fields, and I am excited to see where the technology takes us.

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