Blockchain, AR and VR: The Next Edge in Healthcare

The medical profession has been slower to adopt new technology in the past, but blockchain, AR, and VR are altering that mindset.

As the merging of blockchain, cryptocurrency, VR and artificial intelligence begins to take hold, the healthcare business is ready for a revolution.

Due to the adoption of new and developing health technology, healthcare spending in the United States is expected to reach $8.3 trillion by 2040, up from $4 trillion in 2020. Historically, the medical industry has been cautious to adopt new technology until they have been proven to be safe.

However, as more firms continue to experiment with technology in an attempt to promote transparency and accountability inside healthcare systems, this is beginning to change.

Transparency through blockchain

The medical business has a number of issues, including healthcare hierarchy, data ownership, and data security, to mention a few. In some cases, a combination of medical data or unknown history in an emergency has resulted in potentially life-threatening scenarios.

Blockchain is soon becoming a fundamental requirement for healthcare digitization. It has the potential to allow networked communities to be publicly controlled via smart contracts, ensuring that everyone has a record of what has happened in the digital world. 

Third parties are excluded and adoption is increased by developing a network and managing it by patients. This can be used to store and manage health or payment data, making it an excellent tool for improving healthcare system transparency and accountability.

A patient-centered system would place control in the hands of the patient, allowing them to direct their own care.

Worldwide payments and security are possible with cryptocurrency.

Plastic surgery is a developing industry, with billions of dollars changing hands each year. However, the industry is faced with a number of serious issues. One difficulty is the desire for privacy and confidentiality in procedures. Cross-border transactions are another stumbling block.

Different rules, taxes, and restrictions make it difficult to perform procedures in different nations. Cryptocurrency addresses both issues.

Surgeons are eager to take cryptocurrencies since it allows them to operate abroad and receive payments from all over the world. The majority of demands for privacy come from clients from other countries, mainly the Middle East, who are looking for culturally appropriate practices.

The health business will not be far behind, with mass adoption and the required incorporation of bitcoin methods. In the previous six months, some bank CEOs have changed their minds about cryptocurrencies.

More trading desks are launching cryptocurrency arms and marketing themselves as cryptocurrency experts, as institutions are building increasing stakes in cryptocurrencies.

In the healthcare industry, AR and VR are being used.

In the healthcare profession, there are many applications for AR and VR, but some of the most common are digital twinning, telemedicine, and medical teaching.

A virtual reality (VR) headset is a computer-generated model of a three-dimensional visual or world that may be interacted with in a physically real or physical way by a person wearing special electrical equipment. AR is the real-time integration of digital data with the user’s environment. 

Remember those Snapchat filters where you could see an avatar or object in your area through your phone but it wasn’t actually there? It is done through a live direct or indirect view of the real environment, in which digital features are added to the actual picture.

AR can be more immersive than a simple overlay on top of reality, practically duplicating real-life stimulation.

Any item, system, or process can be digitally paired using a virtual model or simulation. It’s made with real-world data to learn more about its real-world equivalent, which in the metaverse may be the patient.

This would help doctors to monitor how therapies affect a patient’s physical body from anywhere in the world, even if they are not physically present at the treatment site. 

AR-based surgical apps can increase patient safety during surgery by giving surgeons real-time data on the patient’s vitals, operations, equipment locations, and other pertinent information. 

Doctors may visualize the locations of organs, tumors, and other disorders in the patient’s body using AR-based virtual interfaces.

Doctors can treat patients remotely using video conferencing or virtual reality technology in telemedicine. This can be done with a smartphone app or a VR device such as the Oculus Rift.

Patients can utilize AR and VR to manage their own health care outside of the hospital by offering them tools to register their own vitals, track their food, and even do exercises at home with a virtual trainer.

In terms of medical education and training, AR and VR provide a realistic experience that will change health care in the next few years. These tools can be used to teach doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers how to execute a number of treatments.

They’re commonly used to train surgeons by simulating medical procedures outside the body before going in.

Artificial intelligence for customized patient care

Artificial intelligence is frequently employed in healthcare to aid in the diagnosis of diseases, the provision of customized treatment options, and the improvement of patient outcomes. It has the ability to transform the healthcare industry by increasing efficiency and lowering costs.

One of the most important advantages of AI in diagnostics is that it may help deliver accurate diagnosis and treatment options for patients with rare diseases while minimizing human bias.

Some medical vision apps are expected to cut down on the time it takes doctors to obtain a definitive diagnosis by at least 80%. It can assist clinicians in diagnosing disorders, predicting the risk of stroke and heart attack, and recommending cancer treatment strategies.

MSKCC and IBM have decided to collaborate on the development of a smart tool based on IBM Watson that would give medical professionals better access to current and detailed cancer data and procedures.

The healthcare business is on the verge of a major transformation. The coming together of blockchain, cryptocurrency, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence (AI) will improve healthcare and, by extension, people’s lives.

When these three technologies are merged, they can create an immersive patient experience that allows patients to better their mental and physical health, connect with doctors more effectively, and gain access to more medical services.