Blogpost #3: Medical Applications of VR

Aside from gaming, VR can also be applied to other fields. In this topic, we're taking a look at how Virtual Reality is being used in the field of medicine.

Medical science has found an unusual alternative to curing people in the form of VR. From simple therapies to surgical training, VR is indeed helping us not only to have fun, but also to save lives. This is where VR and simulators go hand in hand.

In an article published by the Huffington Post titled "Six Ways Virtual Reality Is Already Changing The World (No Facebook Required)," medical students have found a way to better train themselves in their own specialized surgery training.

"Medical students don't have very many chances at the "error" part of trial-and-error learning. It's a big jump from operating on a human in theory to making the first cut on the operating table. Virtual reality makes "practice makes perfect" more practical."

Since you are dealing with live humans during operation, you can't really have an error during the procedure. However, medical students don't have anything to practice on either to further hone their skills. Thanks to VR they can make mistakes without ever going to jail for medical malpractice.

Surgeons testing out the new virtual reality surgeon simulator

VR is also being used in therapies for treating PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), Phantom Pain (pain experienced mostly by amputees), and other conditions that need therapy.

The Wall Street Journal wrote the article "Virtual Reality Therapy Shows New Benefits" focusing on soldiers with PTSD. One patient told the Wall Street Journal about his usual actions before he took the therapy. He said "I was angry, I was stressed. I tried a lot of things, but when I tried virtual reality it was like a toxic release."

One way of curing a trauma is by reliving the events that made the trauma happen. In the real world, doing this could be dangerous for everyone around you. But in VR, you can vent out as much as you like without worrying about someone getting hurt. You could also call it a stress reliever since your actions in the virtual world won't have any consequences in the real world.

VR is already on its way to treating other kinds of conditions. It could probably become the best method in curing traumas or become the best method in practicing medicine. It could probably be used in testing out drugs in the near future.

References:

Huffington Post "Six Ways Virtual Reality Is Already Changing The World (No Facebook Required)"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/virtual-reality-uses-medicine-autism-ptsd-burn-amputee-victims_n_5045111.html

The Wall Street Journal "Virtual Reality Shows New Benefits"

http://www.wsj.com/articles/virtual-reality-therapy-shows-new-benefits-1413841124