Medical XR is an area with fascinating possibilities which has made some serious implications in the healthcare segment.

Innovative care providers are already using VR to rehabilitate injuries, help service members with PTSD, and use the full suite of available hardware to get biometric feedback and we expect the number of practical applications to grow over time hand in hand with research proving VR’s utility in assessment and treatment. There are a number of active trials measuring the use of these techniques in comparison to traditional treatments, and so far the results have been very promising. 

The biggest challenge to widespread adoption of VR by the medical community is more than just proof that it works as well or better than traditional treatments. The true challenge will be integrating these treatment options into the existing regulatory framework governing treatments and the US health care’s unique idiosyncrasies in particular.

Getting a trial to use VR to treat PTSD for a control group on a military base is one thing - getting the other approvals necessary to go mainstream could take more time and it will be necessary to gather up the results of all these disparate studies in an organized manner to present a macro level case for adoption.

Extended Reality technologies are being used in healthcare for:

• Engaging and educating patients

• Treatment of mental disorders

• Increasing physical activity

• Reducing readmission rates, length of stay or emergency department visits

• Providing immersion therapy