VR and Wearables: The Transformative Technologies In the Healthcare Industry

Changes in Healthcare since the last decade have been one of the most transformative ones. The industry that was once restricted between doctors and patients, now has a third limb attached to it, known as Technology.

The healthcare digital transformation brought by several advanced technologies has already dominated the medical and operative domain, enhanced care at patient level and revolutionized the efficient system outcomes.

Now, the medical field demands greater control in the patients’ hands, which is why the industry has attracted two of our time’s most disruptive technologies within. We are talking about  wearable technology in healthcare and virtual reality in healthcare market.

The Demand for AR/VR and Wearables in Healthcare Business

Although the impact of VR and wearable technology in healthcare is not new, it exploded exponentially with the recent pandemic. VR in healthcare has fostered a better connection between patients and professionals and personalized medical care with very limited physical contact. 

Both the technologies, while being impactful, are enabling themselves to create a greater presence and impact in the life of patients and doctors by partnering with most usual medical devices and healthcare apps. 

With a variety of service settings including physical management, hospital management, personalized care etc, the market size of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in healthcare is expected to reach $4.64 billion by 2025.  

Now coming to the wearables; the technology is a network of patient worn smart devices to enable patient condition monitoring that transmit personal health data in real time. With the increasing demand for fitbits, bluetooth enabled smart watches, sensors, skin patches and other medical devices, the wearable medical device market size is estimated to reach $195.57 billion by the year 2027 at an astounding CAGR of 26.4% from 2020-2027. 

The primary drivers that impact its market expansion are life associated diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, patient’s control over health conditions and the rising need for smartapps for watches and devices. 

On top of this, the concept of Mixed Reality has also cemented its base well in medical science through its various advantages and uses.

While the impact of these technologies in healthcare is extensive, it is crucial to know the applications and benefits healthcare businesses acquire with their use. Let’s hit this in detail. 

Role of AR/VR in Healthcare sector

Medical experts are using VR-empowered gadgets for less expensive and effective technology to analyze, treat, and cure advanced diseases, and so forth.

Here’s how crucial the role of virtual reality and augmented reality in healthcare enhancing healthcare every day:

1. Dental data

In dental consideration, experts utilize a 3D IOS scanning framework to create dental projections. This is particularly useful in anticipating dental surgical intervention.

VR upholds handheld innovation that can be accessed through a hand-held scanner. This is helpful in conveying spatial data in a mobile format.

2. Neuro and spatial 

A mix of AR and VR has created incomprehensible outcomes in medical services. For instance, health experts use AR to project a virtual brain on the head of the patient. Simultaneously, VR causes the patient to have real-time involvement with the projection and witness the arrangements being applied.

3. Healthcare control through your smartphone

VR innovation has helped in building up a wheelchair navigation system with the use of healthcare app development. It scans the areas to help patients to move in the particular environment easily.

In Spite of the fact that the speediest growth in the domain is backed by the high demand for VR based video games and entertainment share, a massive share is held by the healthcare industry. VR in healthcare is driving digital transformation in many ways. VR in the healthcare industry has already been used for treatment planning, diagnostics, training of surgeons, etc.

Above all, it is now being used for curing severe conditions like phobias, depression, autism, PTSD, and addictions. Let us look at how the industry is using AR/VR technology.

Applications and Benefits of AR/VR in Healthcare Business

A virtual reality environment can be utilized to help patients with their pain reduction and improvement of sleep habits.

With VR one can use a specific environment to treat mental conditions of patients, such as anxiety, phobias, and addictions, etc. VR Healthcare Simulation of events helps to recognize the disorder patterns and likewise develop treatment strategies that are efficient. What else?

1. Practicing virtual medical processes

Doctors and nurses generally used to practice medical processes (all – something as small as putting on anesthesia or something as complex as leg amputation) on mannequins and bodies from their morgue room.

Times have changed with VR based mobile apps like Touch Surgery, the practitioners now practice the processes on Virtual Humans, giving them a chance to know what exactly goes inside a body when a process is initiated, without even getting inside a body. This form of virtual simulation also helps with increasing the precision and in reducing the complications & trauma.

2. Lowering PTSD occurrences

VR has come as a major relief technology for people who suffer from anxiety and patients with severe cases of PTSD. By either taking them to the point of war to help them move on or by introducing them to a peaceful virtual world, VR has been a boon in lowering stress levels of patients.

There are a number of mobile apps in both Android and Apple stores, such as Relax VR, Zen Zone, and Monarch VR, etc. that are developed on the foundation of Virtual Reality, which are targeting especially PTSD patients or the ones that suffer from other forms of anxiety disorders.

3. Pain Management

Doctors are now using VR based mobile apps to help their patients cope with pain. There are a number of apps, which take the patients in a soothing environment when they are going through a painful medical procedure.

These VR in healthcare apps have been able to reduce the usage of painkiller drugs, helping in improving the overall health by lowering the health risks associated with heavy medication consumption.

While these are just the three applications of virtual reality healthcare, there are a number of other ways the medicine industry is transforming by introducing everyone involved to a safe, practice world.

It is because of VR in healthcare growing use cases, that the technology has penetrated successfully in the Healthcare industry.

Next to Virtual Reality, wearable tech app development and devices in healthcare is another element that holds the potential to change the healthcare domain. Let us throw some light on how and where health wearables fit in the health and care industry.

Role of Wearable Technology in Healthcare

Gone is the time when wearable was only restricted to monitoring the number of steps a user had taken in a day or how much more calories he needed to burn tomorrow. Today, the future of wearable tech in healthcare has moved ahead of their original lifestyle tracking purposes to create a more in-depth impact on users’ health.

Brands are now investing in the wearable industry and healthcare app development services to cater the healthcare domain to not just draw learnings from patients’ insights but also to infiltrate themselves in the physical and mental wellbeing scenario of the million users the healthcare domain comes with.

Let us look at how the industry will move beyond lifestyle tracking and technicalizing the age-old healthcare domain

Applications and Benefits of Wearable Technology in Healthcare Business

With billions of investments,healthcare development services are planning to increase the number of sensors present in the wearables in coming years. This will help them track and then take responsive monitored action, depending on the user’s conditions.

Here are some ways wearable devices in  healthcare are marking their presence in the medical industry.

1. Health monitoring

Wearable technology in healthcare has become a very convenient way to track a patient’s health. There are now a number of medical grade health wearable devices in healthcare that not only help monitor but also treat and rehabilitate chronic diseases.

2. Post-Operative care

Body sensors have emerged as one of the largest health wearable devices’ categories of the coming time. By being placed inside or on the body, they can help track a number of conditions like blood pressure, heart functioning, gastric stimulation, etc.

Whether inside the body or out, the applications of wearables in healthcare have become a medium for doctors to keep a track on and check their patients, when needed. When connected with an integrated mobile app, patients themselves can keep track of their body temperature, heart rate, and even stress level.

Until you connect the wearables to the device that is viewed and used all the time, you will not be able to monitor what your vitals are showing you.

And even then, what do you do with that information? Now that you have a set of data that you have generated from all your wearable devices, what next?

The next step that follows, introduces data analytics in healthcare to the picture.

Monitoring key metrics presented by patients’ wearable devices is not enough. Doctors will also need a platform where they can store and analyze all the collected data. These generated data when mixed with AI can help in providing next steps to the patients.

Why Are VR and Wearable Technology The Future of Healthcare

The wide-spreading applications of VR in healthcare and wearable technology is just the beginning. With the ever-growing need of timely, personalized, ahead of time, and cost-effective medical practices, the industry is all set to witness more and more technologies getting invented just to fulfill the demand.

Medical applications ask for CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray, and various other supporting technologies to turn the 3D content into insights. The more data analytics comes into practice, the more useful AR/VR and wearable technology gets. From physical training to Telesurgery, the innovative trends of VR and health wearables impact every aspect of healthcare. 

This is probably why the future seems great and valuable with the integration of virtual reality in healthcare education, professionalism and care along with wearables as two disruptive technologies. 

How can Appinventiv Help Your Healthcare Business with VR and Wearables? 

Appinventiv is a leading software and app development company, known for providing top notch healthcare application development services to renowned fitness and healthcare brands. 

Therefore,if you are looking to align your healthcare business with mHealth apps, EHRs, telehealth apps, medical insurance apps, VR in healthcare apps, health wearables, lifestyle tracking or software integration with the technologies that would change the look of the Healthcare system itself, Contact Our Team of mHealth App Experts today.

THE AUTHOR

Amardeep Rawat

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT