Use of Augmented Reality in Healthcare will be Revolutionary

The Indian healthcare sector has been undergoing a radical transformation in the last few decades with highly advanced technologies in the forefront. A lot of emphases has been lately given to visual simulations, as a result of which, Augmented Reality (AR) is now making inroads into the healthcare industry. AR has risen as one of the promising modern digital technologies that has the potential to transform the fast-changing healthcare landscape.

With the healthcare sector witnessing a boom in terms of growth, revenue, and employment, adoption of new technology like AR can change healthcare infrastructure to completely new and profound for physicians and patients alike. AR technology has the ability to make healthcare processes more effective and efficient to support physicians in training and executing healthcare practices, and thus, enhancing the overall quality of healthcare services provided to patients.

The overarching idea behind the use of Augmented Reality is to take the existing functions and tasks in healthcare and improve them for the benefit of the industry and its professionals in diverse ways.

AR in Healthcare: What is Augmented Reality?    

With the AR technology improving all the time and making its mark in various sectors, the healthcare industry is no exception. As of now, the role and use of augmented reality in healthcare is still in its early stage but is predicted to keep rising in the coming years.

Augmented Realityis an advanced technology, integrating digital information with the real-time environment. While Virtual Reality (VR) creates an entirely artificial environment, AR uses existing user environment to overlay digital information,such as 3D models and video, via the camera view of devices like smartphones, tablets, PCs or other wearable techs as smart glasses or a viewfinder.When considering AR in healthcare, medical professionals and patients can use wearables and other connected devices to leverage AR technology and add value to their treatment, diagnosis, and overall healthcare outcome.

The far-reaching implications of adopting AR technology will certainly transform the healthcare sectorby providing real-time data and assistanceto doctors during critical procedures,supporting patients and professionals in the aftercare, and in the education, training, and administration of healthcare. This technology has been slowly making its ingress into the healthcare sector in the recent years with several early adopters reaping the benefits of implementing AR across their healthcare products and collateral.

AR Helps in Educating the Patients

The development of healthcare competencies has posed great challenges for healthcare in educating the masses. Firstly, patient education is essential for an effective treatment and prevention. In that sense, Augmented Reality helps to reinforce the benefits of products/treatment and to teach the precautionary safety issues in a visual way. AR apps provide a multisensory experience and are more effective in imparting valuable information to the public through illustration of pathology, the impact of diseases and its consequences, thus bringing awareness and contributing to public health and well-being. With the advent of AR, it is possible to provide virtual learning experiences to patients embedded in a real-life physical context.

AR Serves to Aid the Physicians

The power of Augmented Reality benefits healthcare professionals in various aspects of training and education. With the help of AR, physicians can better understand and practice new treatments and clinical/surgical procedures. For instance, medical students are allowed to interact with a 3D representation of the body for a really intuitive learning experience. They can follow a real surgery from a handheld device and know the viewpoint of the surgeon from an educational perspective. Moreover, modern AR tech can make painful and unpleasant clinical procedures much more straightforward and clear for doctors and other medical professionals.

When it comes to surgery, precision is of utmost importance and AR assists surgeons to be more efficient during surgeries and other complicated procedures. The technology helps enhance the physicians’ ability to diagnose and treat critical conditions by providing faster access to real-time data and patient information while handling complex surgical procedures. It can helplocate an elusive tumor or conduct a minimally invasive surgical procedure through visual cues, aiding thedoctors to improve the quality of care. For instance, AR can increase a physicians’ field of view with vital statistics and provide an enlarged 3D overlay of vital organs during complex surgeries, thereby helping them save lives and treat patients seamlessly.

As a groundbreaking technology, the use of augmented reality in healthcare is destined to make diagnosis and treatments easier for patients, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. Thoughstill in the nascent stage, the AR industry continues to push itstechnological boundaries and with the right innovative solutions in the healthcare space, it can make the healthcare services and delivery more streamlined and ameliorated.

In the nutshell, the rise of digital transformation and adoption of VR & AR technologies within the healthcare ecosystem are more likely to redesign healthcare practices for better and transform the whole healthcare industry. And it is not a hidden fact that owing to the advancements like AR in the healthcare domain, there will be a huge demand for technically competent, knowledgeable professionals in the industry. To that end, we, at IIHMR,as a premier educational institution,have been excelling in the healthcare education domain with immense experience and responsibility. With the excellent infrastructure facilities, industry-vetted curriculum, and eminent faculty, IIHMR has successfully carved a place of pride in the educational arena, making its healthcare management courses well-off to cater the needs of the changinghealthcare realm. IIHMR has been developing outstanding healthcare professionals with requisite technical and managerial abilities to approach the impending advancements within the industry.