Unlimited reality could help revolutionize health care

By Anwesha Dutta, managing director, and Unnati Gupta, manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Unlimited reality—the convergence of technologies including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—could lead to the development of vast networks of real-time virtual worlds that provide immersive human experiences and interactions.

The combination of VR, AR, MR, and related virtual technologies are poised to potentially revolutionize a wide range of industries including health care. This unlimited reality could offer groundbreaking possibilities for remote interactions, care collaborations, medical research, and process enhancement. Tech-enabled immersive experiences can offer seamless connections between medical professionals, caregivers, patients, and peers, which could enhance care quality, training, and accessibility. The technology could also help open virtual spaces that can be used for diagnoses, care, counseling, and medical training. Unlimited reality can also be used to test operational capacities and new processes (see Myth Busters: What might be next for virtual health?).

Mental health care, pain management, and clinical coordination are a few examples of how health care providers are beginning to leverage unlimited reality. Deepesh Chandra, CIO of Montefiore Health System in New York City, recently explained to us that VR use in health care could be a “transformative step toward immersive, personalized care.” Although the health care sector is gradually warming up to this technology, he says strategic planning for its full potential is still nascent. Health care leaders should try to envision a future where virtual ecosystems play a central role in enhancing patient experiences and medical education.

Four ways unlimited reality could impact the health sector

Here is a look at how unlimited reality could affect clinicians, patients, and the overall health care sector. Consider the following unlimited reality applications:

1. Improving patient care and experiences: Unlimited reality technology could make it possible for patients to receive therapy in an immersive, customizable, safe, and if required, anonymous environment. Immersive VR solutions, for example, have made it possible for some mental health professionals to perform patient assessments, interventions, and monitoring (with appropriate and adaptive stimulus) in a safe, controlled and personalized environment. VR-based therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for conditions such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.^1,2 VR has also proven to be useful in pain management for cancer patients and in treating the chronic pain and anxiety that often comes with it. Some health systems are using portable VR systems to help patients recover from brain injuries,³ or for pain relief for patients who are recovering from severe injuries.⁴ Other health systems have begun to integrate VR into pain relief for cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. One health system is using VR to ease the anxiety of young patients during procedures such as blood draws and IV insertions. By transporting children to engaging virtual environments, such procedures can become less daunting and overall health outcomes can be improved.⁵
   
2. Enabling a focus on health equity: Unlimited reality can help individuals interact with the world in a different way. AR-enhanced hearing aids, for instance, can enhance sound perception by providing visual cues. There are emerging VR solutions that can help people with vision impairment see things more clearly.⁶ Some VR-based solutions are being designed for elderly patients and senior living communities.⁷ VR-based applications can, for example, provide therapeutic interventions that can help reduce anxiety and promote a positive emotional state and improved engagement, especially among non-ambulatory members who can engage in activities like guided meditation and virtual tours. Unlimited reality technologies can also help individuals who have chronic illnesses connect with support groups and leverage learning resources in an immersive environment. Several health and well-being solutions may offer VR-based platforms for real-time, life-like interactions and group engagements. Unlimited reality also can be used to promote health equity by making health information more accessible to more people. Researchers at one medical school are using VR to address disparities in maternal health outcomes. Immersive educational experiences are provided to expectant mothers and their families to bridge health equity gaps, especially among people who live in historically marginalized communities.⁸ In the long term, as VR solutions become more mature, the technology could play a significant role in making health care more accessible and equitable.
   
3. Empowering care team collaboration around the globe: VR can provide lifelike training experiences and simulations to help clinicians enhance their medical and surgical skills. It also can aid in treatment planning by simulating patient-specific scenarios.^9,10 The VR tool lets surgeons virtually assess a patient's brain and body pre-surgery. This can enhance surgical outcomes, reduce procedure time, and foster peer collaboration.¹¹ VR can also help with the diagnosis and treatment of complex cases that require multidisciplinary or multi-location care coordination. It can enable efficient collaboration between clinicians across departments and geographies. Several established technology players are developing VR solutions that can enhance shared decision-making and planning in health care. A U.S. health system, for example, has launched a VR collaboration with a surgical center in Uganda to enable remote coordination and real-time knowledge sharing on complex surgeries.¹²
4. Enhancing operations through simulation and digital twins: Unlimited reality offers an opportunity to create more realistic simulations for operational processes. VR-based simulations can be used to review operational strategies, understand capacities and staffing, train staff on emergency protocols and operational flows, and test preparedness on various protocols and situations. The hospital digital twin is a concept that would simulate a hospital to test capacity and changes.¹³ The use of VR-based simulated experiences could help reduce inefficiencies, improve learning, and lead to better outcomes for patients and health care systems.

Conclusion

Unlimited reality applications in health care are vast and ever-expanding. Each use-case designed today could be a step toward a comprehensive and transformative virtual ecosystem in future. These immersive experiences could help enhance care, research, and training beyond imagination, and lead to better outcomes for both patients and the health care systems. As the possibilities of this unlimited reality continue to unfold, there could be a revolution that transcends physical boundaries and opens new horizons for all health care stakeholders.

Acknowledgements: Nilesh Baid, Rachel Cherian, Brian Doty, Amrit Kumar, Kartik Sharma

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Endnotes:

^{1_{Using virtual reality exposure therapy to enhance treatment of anxiety disorders, Front Psychiatry, October 2019}}

^{2_{Virtual reality in the treatment of eating disorders, Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, May 2021}}

^{3_{Mount Sinai using virtual reality treatments to help pain relief, Mount Sinai/CBS News, September 21, 2022}}

^{4_{Virtual reality breakthrough: Sheba's innovation in brain injury recovery, Sheba Tel HaShomer, February 12, 2024}}

^{5_{A Game Changer: Virtual reality reduces pain and anxiety in children, Businesswire, August 26, 2021}}

^{6_{A vision-based wayfinding system for visually impaired people, MSIT (Ministry of Science and ICT), Korea, August 2017; AI Vs. Hearing Loss: The Battle That's Transforming Millions Of Lives (forbes.com)}}

^{7_{Stanford study finds seniors favor virtual reality, AP News Agency, February 19, 2024}}

^{8_{NYC Health + Hospitals debuts obstetrics virtual reality technology, NYC Health + Hospitals press release, June 16, 2022}}

^{9_{How virtual reality is transforming surgery, Universal Health Services, Inc.}}

^{10_{The next frontier in virtual reality technology, The George Washington University Hospital, Health News Magazine, September 19, 2018}}

^{11_{Pioneering XR in healthcare for enhanced surgical precision, Surgical Theater, 2024}}

^{12_{Bringing innovation to global surgery, Kyabirwa Surgical Center Annual Report, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 2019-2022}}

^{13_{What are digital twins and how can they be used in healthcare?, HealthTech, January 10, 2024}}

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