Virtual reality (VR) is an artificially created computer space that imitates the real environment. Modern technological tools immerse users into the virtual world and allow them to fully interact with it. At this point in time, the main areas of using virtual reality have been formed: the entertainment industry - computer games and video; training; engineering design and operation of complex objects; real estate transactions. According to experts, one of the most promising fields of VR usage is the field of healthcare where it will soon become irreplaceable Medicine, with its rapid implementation of new technologies, is one of the main drivers of VR market growth. According to analysts, in the field of medicine VR will reach several billion US dollars in the coming years. VR-headset is a necessary and often principal device for creating a virtual reality, without which it is impossible to realize the phenomenon of virtual reality itself. With the help of VR-headset, the most genuine environment can be created, which is perceived as real.
The data VR helmets gather could be instrumental in physicians’ daily diagnostic decisions as well as in ongoing research. However, the technical capabilities of existing helmets lag behind the requirements of professional medicine. Much of the current technology for smart phones or VR helmets was designed with the gaming industry in mind, and the parameters of these devices have not been proven to meet standards required by professional medicine. In this regard they are “amateur” devices The growing interest in the use of VR in medicine, as well as the emergence of numerous projects that require the use of VR headsets, poses an urgent challenge to create a professional medical VR headset that meets all the necessary licensing and certification requirements. VR MED can become a base platform for creating a new generation of medical diagnostic devices.
In terms of the presented VR MED project, we propose a solution that will radically change the situation, will allow using VR-technologies in healthcare and medicine fields with maximum efficiency and will significantly expand the market for VR technologies. A world-first VRMED headset, specially designed for health-care purposes, has already been created and passed pre-tests. A new version of the headset with higher characteristics is being prepared, as well as an ecosystem necessary for its effective operation. The new device will meet all strict requirements for professional medical devices. Its ecosystem will be based on modern digital technologies, including blockchain. The VRMED headset and ecosystem will become the fundamental platform, on the basis of which experts will be able to create their own VR-medical devices with the widest range of application. In particular, there are real prospects for creating devices to assist in early diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of a number of serious neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and others.
The use of VR technologies in ophthalmology is already used today to diagnose glaucoma, the second leading cause of irreversible vision loss in the world. VR technology will allow replacing more than a third of all instruments in the ophthalmologist’s office with one device, based on the VRMED headset. Medical devices created on the basis of a special modification of the VRMED headset for the first time in the world will help solve a number of problems connected with the diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmic and neurological children’s diseases, not only through breakthroughs in technology, but also due to the nature of the process itself, which engages the child as a game, thereby increasing compliance in testing and accuracy of diagnosis.
The combination of the advantages of a professional platform based on the VRMED headset and ecosystem will enable developers from around the world to create and monetize unique devices that will become popular in the healthcare and medicine market. The platform ecosystem based on blockchain technology will bring together clinics, patients, investors and developers and will guarantee not only better patient examination and treatment efficiency, but also the fair and transparent distribution of funds and intellectual rights protection. All users of the VR MED platform will have access to SDK and API of our VRMED headset. This will attract more developers to improve the system.
- Vision Field Analyzer
The VR MED headset provides vision field analysis to allow physicians to diagnosis early-stage glaucoma. Preliminary testing of the headset, completed at the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, has confirmed the uniqueness and innovation of this product. Now the equipment is undergoing testing at the Institute of Eye Diseases at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Portability
The VR MED headset is mobile. To use it, the clinician needs only the headset itself, and the notebook that it will be plugged into. Its weight (0.4 kg, about one pound) and compact dimensions add to its ease of transport. It can be used in mobile medical units, small stationary clinics and with telemedicine set-ups.
- Ergonomic Design
VR MED is integrated into a headset with ergonomic design, which, in contrast with its competitors, provides a higher degree of accuracy in rapid-speed eye-tracking. This gives the headset versatility for use in various medical settings.
**VRMED headset is a professional precision multifunctional device.**
The basis of the VR MED project is a multifunctional medical virtual reality headset (VR MED headset) certified as a medical device. This is a compact, easily portable device, which solves the problem of using virtual reality
technologies in multiple areas of healthcare and medicine.
The full version of the VRMED headset will include:
- Position sensors;
- Inertia sensors;
- High-speed eye-tracker with a frequency of more than 1000 measurements per second;
- Image sharpening mechanism;
- Interpupillary distance adjustment mechanism;
- Neurointerface;
- Headset with microphone;
A microcomputer that will make the headset a fully autonomous universal gadget. Among the tasks performed by VR MED headset are:
- Visualization of preset images;
- Spatial positioning of the patient’s head;
- Tracking of the patient’s head motion (direction, speed, acceleration);
- High-speed eye video recording (with a frequency of more than 1000 frames per second);
- Gaze tracking (direction, speed, acceleration, with a frequency of more than 1000 measurements per second) and the analysis of this data;
- Brain bioelectrical activity recording.
Scope of VR MED headset application
Despite the fact that the use of VR in medicine is just beginning, the advantages of 3D imaging allow us to predict the growing rate of VR evolution in medicine, and also the fact that virtual reality will soon become indispensable in many spheres of health care. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the areas in medicine which have already begun or may potentially use virtual reality with the help of VRMED headset:
Personnel training and professional development:
–training of doctors and medical personnel;
–training in anatomy, physiology, etc.;
–work in virtual laboratories, visual study of the operation of devices;
–planning of surgical interventions;
–mastering of surgical skills and manipulation.Spatial imaging of anatomical structures with the help of specialized VR photography or high-tech hardware vision devices (MRI, ultrasound scanning, optical coherence tomography, etc.) for the planning of surgical interventions, including complex reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries, etc
Ophthalmology (diagnosis)
Ophthalmology (treatment and rehabilitation)
Neurology
Rehabilitation
Psychoneurology and psychotherapy
Anesthesiology
Telemedicine
Pediatrics
Therapeutic exercise – virtual trainer
MEET THE TEAM BEHIND THIS AWESOME PROJECT
For more information please visit:
Website: https://vrmed.io/
Whitepaper: https://vrmed.io/upload/medialibrary/b26/WP_eng.pdf
Bitcointalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3122806.0
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vr1med
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vr1med
Telegram:https://t.me/vrmedio
Author: Tosin David
My BitcoinTalk Profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1180815
Disclaimer: This article was published in terms of the bounty campaign. I am not a project team member or its representative but a supporter of this incredible project.