News
Virtual reality technology reaches double-digit growth in healthcare
2 November 2007
Healthcare virtual reality (VR) applications have experienced
double-digit growth worldwide since the turn of the century according to
a new report from Kalorama Information. The report forecasts that the US
market for virtual reality in surgery, medical education, therapy and
other areas will reach $290 million by 2010.
Virtual reality applications have revolutionised the global healthcare
industry. More accurate and sophisticated than conventional two-
dimensional scans, VR applications provide opportunities to perform
medical tasks in a risk-free environment and make training accessible to
large numbers of students. Additionally, VR simulators allow medical
professionals to remain up-to-date on the latest technical procedures
required in their profession.
Current VR applications assist in numerous modalities from pre-operative
planning and robot-assisted surgery to medical curricula to teach
anatomy of body parts and the visualisation of medical data that can be
integrated and simulated into 3D models to gather insights into the
cause and effects of injuries. VR is even finding uses in therapeutics
for pain and depression to replace or reduce pharmaceutical usage in
these cases.
"While still at a very nascent stage of commercialisation, VR
technologies are being widely used by the Department of Defense, medical
schools and hospitals, and manufacturers of medical equipment on a
variety of levels with significant benefit," notes Steven Heffner,
Executive Publisher of Kalorama Information. "The establishment of
industry standards should lead to rapid commercialisation of products,
and ongoing technological advancements will only further the market,
particularly in the surgery segment."
1. Virtual reality market in the US healthcare sector: markets for
remote surgery, 3D modeling, pain distraction and other applications. Kalorama
Information, 2007.
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