Applications of the metaverse in the healthcare industry

In June 2022, French software company Dassault Systèmes, the Hartmann Radiotherapy Institute, and the Rafael Institute launched the VORTHEx project to offer the world’s first radiotherapy room simulated fully in 3D. The innovation allows patients to experience treatment through VR. Although radiotherapy has made significant progress in efficiency and precision in recent years, a radiotherapy treatment room can be an unpleasant environment for a patient.

The VORTHEx project aims to improve patients' comfort, lessen their anxiety, and enhance their understanding of the treatment. When the real treatment begins, a patient that has used the simulation will be accustomed to being alone in the treatment room with a moving and rotating machine.

The VORTHEx project's room is a digital twin of a room at the H. Hartmann Institute of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery. The VR equipment and immersive experience were provided by Dassault’s 3DExperience Lab and 3DExcite solutions.

Although impressive, a radiotherapy treatment room with a robot may add a daunting aspect to treatment, especially if it is the patient’s first experience with this novel environment. The virtual room recreates the treatment's technical and protocol components, including the room, the robot arm, the patient's position, and the conditions and steps of the sessions in 3D simulation.

The virtual experience is accompanied by a healthcare team member, allowing any questions related to the situation to be answered. The companies plan to conduct clinical trials to assess the performance and impact of the VR educational experience throughout a patient’s journey.

This technology is an example of a metaverse use case in which companies can use virtual collaborations for improved patient education and treatment outcomes. In the metaverse, 3D simulations for education around all types of treatments could be possible.

Netherlands-based start-up Bump Galaxy provides a virtual world for mental healthcare built in Minecraft. Bump Galaxy aims to use a gaming environment to offer new physiological experiences of safety and social support, stimulating people to increase their personal quality of life through play.

It has set up several biomes, including a meditation forest, a netherworld for facing fears, and an underwater temple for uncovering trauma through deep hypnotic visualisations.

Members can also meet mental health professionals from around the world who work on the platform to provide game-specific care programs. Group therapy sessions can also be set up and attended on the platform. The aim is to provide a collaborative, interactive, virtual space combining traditional and unconventional wellbeing methods, helping people overcome anxiety, depression, and trauma.

In 2021, Philips launched ClarifEye, a surgical navigation technology combining imaging and AI navigation into a single system for complex spine procedures. The new technology enables doctors to perform less intrusive operations and achieve better results for patients with spine disorders. The accuracy of a surgeon is critical, especially during delicate spinal surgery. ClarifEye’s real-time imaging and 3D navigation provide a more extensive view of the patient’s spine, improving clinical accuracy and results.

Current surgical navigation techniques are invasive and limiting. Surgical procedures are typically performed in patients with severe symptoms of spinal conditions such as spinal stenosis or scoliosis. This includes fixing the affected bone area with screws or other fixtures placed through large incisions around the vertebra. However, these fixtures are increasingly placed via minimally invasive procedures with small incisions.

ClarifEye combines 2D and 3D visualisations at low X-ray doses with 3D AR, giving surgeons precise imaging guidance. It is integrated with Philips’ Azurion image-guided therapy platform for intra-operative visual feedback throughout the surgery. This allows surgeons to be highly specific about device placement and as minimally invasive as possible. Minimally invasive spinal surgery reduces patients’ post-operative pain, hospital stays, blood loss, soft tissue damage, and scar tissue. It is also less daunting than traditional open surgery. This AR technology could be adopted for other complex surgical procedures for different body parts.

ClarifEye was used to treat a 51-year-old male patient with multi-level degenerative lumbar stenosis at the Armed Forces Hospital in Oman in January 2022. Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden found that the clinical accuracy of pedicle screw placement with ClarifEye was higher (94%) than the conventional fluoro-guided approach (90%) in a 2021 study.

In 2020, at the BIO International Convention, Samsung Biologics launched a virtual exhibition hall to connect digitally with clients worldwide. The VR platform offered a virtualised conference experience, showcased company service offerings, and allowed clients to schedule one-to-one meetings and access resource libraries.

In 2021, the company’s Bio Do Dream Challenge, a celebration for employees held on their first year anniversary of joining the company, took place on Gather Town, a metaverse platform. Following the event's success, Samsung Biologics will expand the use of the metaverse to educational programs and major events, increasing access to a wider group of employees. The company believes using the metaverse will allow it to communicate more effectively with new employees.

In March 2022, Samsung Biologics held its first job fair via the metaverse. Prospective joiners could take a virtual tour of the facilities and access information about the company, job positions, and corporate culture. A real-time chat function was added to encourage engagement between the company and candidates and the fair allowed participation from anywhere at any time for interested job seekers.