Augmented Reality is not limited to the gaming world.

This robust technology is forming a new healthcare environment in the true sense.

AR in healthcare is bringing a gigantic wave of healthcare approaches to help both patients and healthcare professionals under the same roof.

So, this blog contains all the answers to your questions including how AR is used in healthcare and how you can develop AR healthcare app hassle-free.

What is AR in healthcare? 

AR is gaining enormous popularity in various sectors like gaming, retail, automotive and many more and it is positively impacting the healthcare industry in several forms as well.

AR holds the ability to deliver an interactive experience of the real world with digital visual elements.

The ultimate goal of AR in healthcare is to, 

• To train medical students in a most effective and comprehensive way

• To improve the care approach in real-life scenarios

How does AR work in healthcare?

First, it needs a camera-equipped device which contains AR-based software.

For instance, smartphones, tablets or smart glasses (Google Glass).

Okay. So, here is the entire process.

Step-1: The user points a device to the object.

Step-2: AR software contains a computer vision technology that analyzes and recognizes the object.

Step-3: The smart device downloads the information of the object from the cloud.

Step-4: The user can now interact with the object by sending the commands to the cloud.

Step-5: The cloud sends that command to the object in order to showcase the information.

How AR is used in healthcare?

AR assists healthcare professionals to improve care outcomes by offering patients real-time health data.

Moreover, it is also an affordable and convenient solution to train or teach medical students or existing staff members about some serious illnesses like cancer.

Apart from that, here are some applications of it.

#1. Improved access to vital information:

AR provides patient monitoring data in a consolidated display to help the medical staff in decision-making.

Moreover, it allows healthcare professionals to access or overlap the patients' health data.

For instance, 

• Virtual X-ray view of tomography

• Real-time images from ultrasound and microscopic examinations

• Visualizing the image of the tumour in the video of an endoscope

• Analyzing the radiation exposure risks from X-ray imaging devices 

#2. Planning and training:

This is one of the first and most noteworthy uses of AR in healthcare.

It supports the planning, training and practice of several health conditions.

AR provides a three-dimension of bodies image to the healthcare professionals so that they can analyze patients’ body parts anatomy in order to create an effective care plan.

#3. ARAS (AR-assisted-surgery):

The most interesting part about AR in healthcare is that healthcare professionals can easily visualize the internal organs of the patients without any cut to open a body.

But how?

By overlaying the patient's anatomy on top of their body.

In other words, it enables the medical staff to put the real-time MRI and other scan data into the VR software or headset to analyze the anatomy of the patients before performing the surgery.

#4. Vein visualization:

When it comes to vein visualization, AR is helping the medical staff, especially nurses.

To do so, an AR device called a near-infrared vein finder is used.

The device projects the image of the veins onto the patient's skin to help the medical staff easily locate the subcutaneous veins.

#5. Neurosurgery:

AR is witnessing an enormous adoption in neurosurgery as it is the area of healthcare which requires a large amount of imaging data before performing the surgery.

Augmented Reality guides the neurosurgeon in the surgery with real-time data access to the patients.

#6. Pharmaceuticals:

Using AR in healthcare, pharmaceutical companies can be able to analyze and provide more accurate information about several drugs.

For instance,

• It helps the drug development team to visualize the effect of the drug or medicine on the human body.

AR is transforming the telehealth platforms and other healthcare apps!

We both are familiar with how telemedicine has played a major role in enhancing care outcomes. But, the adoption of Augmented Reality is a big step in empowering telemedicine solutions and other healthcare apps.

As it helps the telehealth platforms in several forms such as,

• Minimize the care risks

• To support the complex virtual care solutions

• More insights into the patients' health conditions

• Real-time data collection of the patients

Last but not least, teaching or educating the patients and their family members about anatomical structure. 

For instance, 

A Melbourne-based telehealth platform Connect2MyDoctor recently implemented the AR system to educate patients about anatomy structure and physiological mechanisms using 3D modules.

Read the full article here: Connect2MyDoctor started a patient education module using AR

Still, if you have concerns about AR in healthcare, here are some of the case studies

Case study-#1: 

Name: AR/VR in Telemedicine

Authors: Giuseppe Riva & Luciano Gamberini

Successful telemedicine solutions are based on real-time and accurate patient data.

AR/VR is the robust tech that can easily improve the care outcomes of telemedicine visits along with making it more flexible and scalable.

Explore the entire case study here: AR/VR in telemedicine

Case study-#2: 

Name: Training orthopedic professionals using AR/VR

Oculus (Owned by Meta) offers a wide range of AR/VR solutions for any industry. 

UConn Health is using Oculus AR/VR-based solutions to train their orthopedic professionals in order to leverage their skillset effectively.

Explore the entire case study here: Training orthopedic professionals using AR/VR

Okay. So, how to build Augmented Reality healthcare app?

To develop a flexible, scalable, and secure VR healthcare app, you must focus on the below-mentioned aspects.

#1. Business:

The adoption of AR in healthcare is rapidly increasing. This means, many healthcare startups are looking forward to it as a perfect business opportunity.

Thus, you need to make sure that your AR healthcare app development,

• Is fulfilling the modern demands of both patients and care providers

• It has the unique value proposition to stay ahead of the competition.

• Can improve the quality of performance as per the shifting healthcare market

#2. Technical:

You can’t dominate the market with just a comprehensive business plan.

You must build Augmented Reality healthcare app that is high-performing, flexible, and scalable.

To do so,

• Your app needs to be feature-rich.

• Have a future-ready tech stack

• Contain or generate less number of errors and bugs

#3. Compliance:

Compliance is one of the most significant parts of any healthcare app development.

In other words, you can’t avoid the security and privacy loopholes in the app development process.

For that,

• Your app needs to be fully compliant with the data privacy laws.

• You must hire healthcare-specific compliance experts.

However, finding these aspects under the same roof is not an easy task.

On a crucial note, a healthcare-specific IT company is the only option to decode the AR healthcare app development concerns without adding any complexity.

And if you’re looking for the same, know how we can help you with our ultimate expertise and experience in the same.

We are creating a new healthcare environment with our healthcare IT class!

We are healthcare IT masterminds.

We have been creating ingenious and outcome-driven healthcare IT solutions for the past 7+ years.

This means, we’re also dealing with the VR-based healthcare concerns of the healthcare startups, enterprises, and organizations.

So, if you want to evoke the magic in your healthcare IT business vision, we’re ready to decode your business, technical, and compliance needs with our 50+ army of healthcare IT professionals.