VR in healthcare

Technology of VR touches the most important spheres of human necessities.  Virtual reality helped to transfer an unpleasant medical procedure Cystoscopy As it turned out, the unpleasant sensations from a painful medical procedure — cystoscopy — can be reduced with the help of virtual reality. The demonstration of Icelandic landscapes helped the patients. During cystoscopy, a special instrument-an endoscope-is injected through the urethra. There are two types of research — hard and flexible. The first one is worse tolerated, it is done under local anesthesia, but sometimes you can not do without it. Scientists decided to test how this procedure is tolerated by people with and without virtual glasses. The study involved 103 volunteers with an average age of 66 years. During the cystoscopy, some of them were shown the Skogafoss Waterfall in Iceland in VR glasses. During the procedure, people were measured blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation and heart rate, as well as assessed the level of pain. As it turned out, the patients who were sitting in VR glasses had a better cystoscopy. They, however, experienced nausea and dizziness from the headset, but the patients found it tolerable.

 The VR helmet ruined the owner's sight, but he used the device really often

The developer of VR apps, games, Danny Bittman, shared an unpleasant story on Twitter. According to the man, the VR helmet spoiled his eyesight. Bittman said that he was diagnosed with " an eye convergence issue that reveals dyslexia." On habr.com it was assumed that we are speaking about progressive astigmatism. It should be understood that the guy used a VR helmet every day for six hours. It is unlikely that any of the ordinary users do the same. Unless someone from the fans of Half-Life: Alyx. Bittman said that he needed the help of an ophthalmologist for the first time in three years. That's how much he is engaged in deals for VR. It is worth noting that some doctors talk about the  pessimistic impact of VR tools on sight, but the American Association of Optometrists claims that the possibility of acquiring irreversible vision damage has not been proven.

Virtual reality wants to replace anesthesia for children A pilot project is already underway in US hospitals

Lenovo, together with the Starlight Children's Foundation, is testing virtual reality headsets as a replacement for general anesthesia for children. This method can help distract young patients from the operation and calm them down. The pilot project has been taking place in hospitals for a year. Virtual reality has helped doctors to successfully perform even invasive operations, in particular endoscopy (here, however, local anesthesia was not enough). The doctors explained that the device of the human brain allows you to reduce pain by simply distracting attention. The stronger the virtual experience, the more likely it is that the patient will not notice the pain at all. It is reported that the technology is almost ready for use. The equipment for it will be provided by Lenovo, namely the Mirage Solo VR headset. Scientists were able to cure apathy in the elderly with the help of virtual reality. In addition, after such therapy, older people began to remember more words Scientists at the University of South Australia have found an unusual way to combat apathy in nursing homes. Virtual reality technology acts as a new tool to combat this condition. It is noted that apathy is a widespread phenomenon in nursing homes. The danger of apathy is that it accelerates the decline of cognitive functions. Among other things, it worsens the quality of life and increases the probability of early death three times compared to people who do not suffer from this condition. One of the authors of the study, Jim Saredakis, interviewed 17 residents of the Helping Hand nursing home about their life experiences, focusing on the positive aspects. Subsequently, he adapted virtual reality for each respondent. So, elderly people watched 360-degree videos on a VR gadget, remembering old times, favorite places and other positive experiences. The researchers noted a variety of emotions of the participants, up to tears of happiness, and all of them were positive. Experts also paid attention to improvements in fluency of speech, which is a key indicator of apathy. Among other things, after such therapy, the participants remembered much more words than before. ” The fact that people with the highest levels of apathy showed the most improvements tells us that virtual reality can help improve the lives of older people in aged care facilities, " Saredakis concluded.