“Fundamentally, the answers to our challenge in healthcare relies in encouraging and empowering the individual”- Elizabeth Holmes.
This is all set to change with the slow advent of Augmented Reality in Healthcare. The global Augmented Reality in Healthcare is developing quickly and is used extensively for varied applications such as for education, fitness management, medical training or others, which drive the growth of Augmented Reality in the Healthcare market. At the same time, with the adoption of cloud development of AR, Artificial Intelligence and so on, it also propels better access for a more economical treatment for the patients.
Healthcare IT news reveals that student developers at Rice University have designed an Augmented Reality application, which could help with some of the common problems related to the movement that can affect people with Parkinson’s.
Similarly, as per the research at the Maryland Blended Reality Center’s “Augmentarium,” plan was to prototype AR applications, in medicine, same as the team from Stanford, Duke, and John Hopkins, etc. In envisioned application, a surgeon using an AR headset such as Microsoft’s HoloLens would be able to discern digital images and other data directly overlaid on the field of view.
The idea is that the headset will then reveal a floating echocardiogram with vital signs and data on the characteristics of the patient’s aneurysm, straight above the surgical field. If the app is made available, a surgeon would not have to look away from the patient to multiple different displays to collect and interpret this information.
How can AR benefit patients?
- With the use of AR technology in healthcare, patients can now expect a better quality treatment
- It also helps to educate the patients more efficiently about a particular disease
- Managing patient aftercare is also made easy
- With augmented reality, maintaining patient records and access to information is made easy
How AR benefits doctors?
- With Augmented Reality, medical training is made more immersive and interactive
- It helps doctors to arrive at a more conclusive diagnosis, thus helping them to administer a more effective treatment
- Helps to improve the standard of global medical education
- Arrive at a more informed healthcare decision
Cool uses for AR
- Founder of Medical Realities, Shafi Ahmed had revealed at the Augmented World Expo, 2015 that he used Google glass to perform live operations for about 14,000 students spread across 32 countries, in an attempt to get them through the learning curve quicker.
- AR anatomy said they were working on an app that identifies and match words like femur with the visuals and data on the bone, using OCR
- With AccuVein, a handheld scanner it was possible to project over the skin and show the doctors or the nurses where the veins are in the patient’s body
- EyeDecide is an app that uses Augmented Reality to show the simulation of the vision, harmed by the different disease thus educating the patient better
- Augmedics, an Israeli Startup has manufactured AR headsets for Spine Surgeons, were using the technology, a 3D model of the CT-Scan is overlaid on the spine to give the surgeon a kind of X-ray vision
- Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic have united with Microsoft to launch HoloAnatomy, a HoloLens app to picture the human body in an easy and spectacular way.
- Kapanu, a Swiss startup has developed an Augmented Reality program that enables a patient to visualize his teeth, from the virtual 3d image of the teeth that is superimposed over the real video of the patient’s mouth and know the outcome of a dental procedure or a surgery.
Key Global Players and forecast for AR in the Healthcare Market
Market Research Future also identifies these companies, Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, DAQRI, Atheer, Augmedix, Oculus VR, CAE Healthcare, 3D Systems, Magic Leap Inc, Ostershout Design Group and Virtually Better in the U.S, and Medical Realities, Blippar in the U.K, Mindmaze, VirtaMes etc, from Switzerland as well as HTC(Taiwan), Siemens Healthineers(Germany), Wikitude GmbH (Austria) and Philips Healthcare from Netherlands & U.S. , among other as the key global players of AR in healthcare market.
According to the 2018 Research Report of Global Augmented and Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market, the amount was valued at US$510.36m in 2016 and is estimated to reach US$8,313.29m by 2025, emerging at a CAGR of 36.35% from 2017 to 2025. Also, as per the Market Research Future Analysis, the global augmented reality in the healthcare market is anticipated to be US$1.32bn by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of 23%.
Wrap-Up: Augmented Reality apps helps to provide a highly interactive and immersive learning experience for doctors as well as patients and to deliver a more effective diagnosis. Augray, catering to these requirements can help Healthcare market by providing cutting-edge AR solutions, bringing an entirely new world to you and making an impact in the medical field.
