Beyond VR Games
Virtual reality (VR) is used in various areas in hospitals such as medical treatment, the education of medical staffs and the enhancement of the convenience and safety of those who visit hospitals.
According to the medical world on November 21, VR is touching various medical fields such as medical education through virtual surgery, virtual rehabilitation treatment and the like. Especially, the field of mental health medicine is garnering much attention and an exposure treatment method which treats various phobias and addictions by using VR is already in a clinical utilization stage.
An exposure therapy is a behavioral therapy that develops emotional tolerance in a deliberate and painful situation for patients suffering from psychological distress that occurs in certain situations. VR is receiving much attention from medical staffs in that it allows precise control over a situation that doctors want to expose patients to. The field to which VR is most actively applied is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). VR is actively used to treat patients suffering from the avoidance and re-experiencing of traumatic situations such as war or traffic accidents and anxiety about such situations.
Gil Hospital of Gachon University will establish the 'Virtual Reality Therapy Center' in January of next year and treat PTSD and panic disorder patients in earnest. In the future, the hospital is planning to expand VR treatment areas to mild cognitive impairment or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "In order to treat PTSD and panic disorder, patients and therapists must go to sites which trigger PTSD and panic disorder or be exposed to stimuli that spark off stress but it is practically or physically impossible," said professor Cho Seong-jin, a professor of mental health medicine in Gil Hospital. “VR can enable patients to reach a treatment stage by repeatedly giving stimuli in accordance with patients’ conditions.”
Sejong Hospital recently launched a VR application to let patients take a tour of examination rooms, wards, the checkup center and surgery center before visiting the hospital in person. 'Cancer Hospital VR' App was released by Samsung Seoul Hospital. The application guides patients about the hospital’s major facilities. VR can help patients reduce their anxiety and stress by taking a look at places where they will be treated and their medical procedures. Bundang Hospital of Seoul National University came up with the results of the application of a VR video for child patients. That is to say, the hospital developed a VR video that allows children close to undergoing surgery to experience surgical procedures with "Pororo" Character popular among kids in a VR world. So the hospital could reduce children’s anxiety before anesthesia 40% in actual surgery.
Gangnam Severance Hospital which has operated a virtual reality clinic since 2005 is developing technology to manage mental health via VR in cooperation with Samsung Electronics. The hospital and the IT giant will jointly develop diagnostic kits and chairs to analyze psychological states with VR devices, a VR mental health program including psychological evaluation, education and training processes, and an artificial intelligence diagnosis system among others with the goal of commercializing them next year.