Conor Stewart
Research expert covering health & pharmaceuticals in the UK & Europe
Augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) all belong under the umbrella term extended reality (XR). VR usually involves headsets to immerse the user in a computer-generated reality, while AR uses a device to overlay graphics and sometimes sounds in a real-world environment. MR then sits somewhere between the two. The main market for XR has thus far been in entertainment and gaming, however, there is also huge potential for the technology to revolutionize healthcare. XR can have a multitude of benefits for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Benefits in healthcare
According to a survey in the United States in 2023, over eight in ten physicians indicated they believed VR would positively impact patient outcomes. Benefits for patients through AR and VR technology include pain management and physical therapy, as well as helping sufferers of mental health conditions such as PTSD. This is because they can receive therapy in a controlled virtual reality and may also be useful in confronting fears and traumas. On the other side, healthcare workers can get assistance from improved diagnoses, while XR can be used in education and AR will be used much more in the future in surgeries. A study found patients in an ICU had a positive experience with a VR system, as over four-fifths reported feeling less pain after using the technology. While AR was proven to enable surgeons, in one example of inserting lumbar pedicle screw placements, to carry out procedures quicker.Outlook
The market for VR in healthcare is still in the developing phase, and experts believe it is still around five to ten years away from being widespread and having extensive acceptance. By 2029, the VR in healthcare market is forecast to be worth over 13 billion U.S. dollars globally, up from around four billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Currently, approval for AR and VR medical devices is easier to achieve in the U.S. compared to the EU, especially since new medical device regulations in Europe began in 2021. In 2021 and 2022, 20 AR and VR medical devices were approved by the FDA in the United States, this was a higher number of devices approved in these two years than the previous six combined. This highlights the growing importance and use of these devices in healthcare. Up to this point, the greatest number of XR medical devices have been focused on orthopedic and radiology applications.
