A team of heart surgeons at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands has taken full advantage of virtual reality technology by studying the feasibility and efficacy of using MeetinVR for diagnosing heart disease by reviewing medical images.
Read the case study and see their findings here.
The goal was to simulate a remote heart team meeting, and the results showed that 90% of the physicians found MeetinVR’s ease-of-use, usefulness, immersiveness, and effectiveness to be better than tele/video conferencing. Furthermore, 50% rated it to be similar to physical meetings, and 20% rated it as better than real-life ones.
New problems call for new solutions
Due to the Covid pandemic, the entire world has been forced to change the way we engage in our personal, professional, and healthcare-related activities. Healthcare has been a huge challenge because protective measures force physical distancing restrictions between doctors and patients. However, there may be a solution that not only compensates for these restrictions but improves upon them as well.
Virtual reality has been one of the most paramount changes in our new way of living. Because of its seemingly magical ability to immerse people from across the world into a single collaborative 3D environment, the limitations of physical distance no longer apply.
A new world of possibilities
What’s more fascinating is while this preliminary study was a long way from an actual surgery, a virtual surgery isn’t so far away. Since MeetinVR’s environments allow users the ability to harness virtual tools like laser pointers, tablets, and other devices, it’s a seamless transition to using scalpels and surgical tools as well. While robot-assisted telesurgery like Da Vinci Instruments is not new, it has been limited by the requirement for the doctor to be in an adjacent room while performing the operation. Virtual reality platforms like MeetinVR open the door for this sort of operation to be done by anyone anywhere in the world.