How emerging Augmented Reality Technology in healthcare changing the fate of its stakeholders

With the new and latest developments in science and technology, Augmented Reality (AR) has made its impression in the minds of the people. It has surely gone popular with its application and uses leaving a long-lasting impact on every individual. It wouldn’t be wrong to term this technological innovation the finest amalgamation of entertainment and education. It is infotainment in a sense it is providing information in an entertaining and interesting way.

The scope of AR in healthcare is vast. This technology is not benefiting a mere stakeholder, but all the concerned pillars relating to the medicine industry. How is augmented reality for healthcare changing its fate? This technology is making the use of arts and creative skills to develop 2D and 3D graphics and animation tools for videos and gaming industry which is attractive and engrossing. Primarily, videos were designed to educate the nurses and other medical staff about various diseases and the basic day-to-day functions they need to perform on patients. The graphics would appear up in front of the learner’s eyes, and they would get on-the-job training by witnessing the intricacies of performing those tasks live. This was used as a tool to enhance their existing knowledge and even give them practical exposure to medicine without actually performing it on a living human being.

Project work like heart surgeries and cases of rising blood pressure are taught to medical students by showing them videos and visuals created from AR. The heart seems to be real in nature, and its functionality is also working in the same manner a living human heart works. This is building up the confidence of potential students and also reducing the probability of emergencies which might arise due to any failure of performance by the new learners.

For the doctors, they are able to perform critical surgeries like brain and other neuro system surgeries by using AR, which provides quick access to patient’s medical history, test reports. Another advancement in AR is making possible that the doctors would be able to see veins and other tissues on the patient’s body exactly at the point where they are located, this will enhance the expert’s efficiency to operate at the right place in right time.

One of the underlining promising features of AR is the doctor’s ability to perform operations without even actually drawing cuts on the patient’s skin. It doesn’t mean that without any cuts and stitches the surgeries would be performed but before making any use of knives and scissors, the doctors would be able to visualise the entire anatomy of the human body without actually digging into it.

A patient be it of any age, anxiety and stress are the foremost attributes which act as a hindrance. They are scared and fear the ambience of a hospital and undergoing surgeries. With AR games and setups are designed which act as a distraction for the patients and works as a tool for stress-buster. Healthcare is the sector which can be benefitted the most out of the developing technology and adapting such inventions is making the tasks easier.

MAGES Studio in Singapore has incorporated and helped various big hospitals adapt and acknowledge the AR technology in their institutional bodies and the results are quite satisfactory and pleasing. A designing technology can carve smiles on thousands of dull faces which are often found in the medical field. Though it is not very easy to adapt to the change but as years would pass by AR adoption would be the most praised and valued addition in healthcare.