No matter how hard it is to believe, we see a concept from a sci-fi movie happening in the real world. Metaverse helps us solve real healthcare issues, providing a therapeutic platform that offers opportunities to enhance healthcare delivery and patient experience.
Metaverse: How it started… how it is going
Let’s go back to 1992 when author Neal Stephenson coined the term “metaverse” in his science-fiction novel “Snow Crash”. Neal, in his book, had already envisioned a virtual reality-based successor of the internet. The characters used digital avatars of themselves to explore the online world. And that was the first step to conceptualizing Metaverse in the real world.
Key Technologies behind the Metaverse and game-changing Metaverse applications
Metaverse is the amalgamation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR). Now, with ever-increasing connectivity using 5G, we will see a whole new world of the Internet.
Metaverse has already reimagined gaming, entertainment, and art. And now, Metaverse is heading toward reshaping healthcare. Transformational changes are coming.
3 ways through which Metaverse will transform Healthcare
- Metaverse will enhance the telemedicine experience.
COVID-19 accelerated the use of telemedicine. Now Metaverse focuses on offering a more personalized telemedicine experience. We expect to see telemedicine interventions in mental illness therapies. Metaverse enables healthcare providers to monitor patients remotely in their everyday environment. With a VR headset, the patient and the doctor will enjoy a safe and comfortable environment that enables a more effective therapy.
Rocket VR Health Partners with Massachusetts General Hospital to Co-Develop VR Digital Therapeutic for Stem Cell Transplant Patients
Rocket VR Health, in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, is about to launch a clinical trial to explore the use of mental health therapy delivered via virtual reality in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.
- Metaverse will facilitate medical education and training.
Metaverse is a new touchpoint for communication and new experiences, offering the freedom to create and share, enabling high immersion training and real-time procedures and even displaying cellular level data of human anatomy.
It will facilitate pre or post-procedure patient counseling via virtual reality (VR), thereby increasing patient involvement and at the same time providing the Healthcare staff with hands-on training on the surgery done and the criticalities involved.
8Chili Inc partners with Apollo Hospitals to enable patient counseling in Metaverse
8Chili Inc, a US-based Metaverse firm dedicated to enhancing Healthcare delivery, has already partnered with Apollo Hospitals, a large chain of hospitals in India, to facilitate pre/post-operation patient counseling via VR.
- Metaverse will improve medical decision-making through the creation of digital twins.
A digital twin is a virtual model or simulation of any object, process, or system created using real-world data, and which can be used to analyze, evaluate and predict current and future status of its real-world counterpart. In healthcare, a digital twin is a virtual twin of a patient. The digital twin serves as a dummy that helps make better decisions for patients who may have undergone a specific surgery or need to receive specific treatments.
Siemens Healthineers and GE Healthcare are working on digital twins.
Digital twins have attracted industry interest. Many large med-tech companies, such as Siemens Healthineers and GE Healthcare, are already working on digital twins. eg: Siemens Healthineers is developing a digital twin of the heart in order to create tailored cardiological treatment.
Why every healthcare provider should welcome Metaverse
Metaverse is here to provide a hyper-real alternative world for us and either solve or enhance some real-world Healthcare delivery aspects.
Though nascent, its implications in healthcare are soon becoming a reality.
Healthcare practitioners and companies should be cognizant of the realm, so they do not miss the digital healthcare revolution.
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Sources:
https://www.informationweek.com/big-data/metaverse-the-next-frontier-in-healthcare-
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/427930
https://www.siemens-healthineers.com/perspectives/mso-solutions-for-individual-patients.html