The impact of the metaverse on the healthcare sector

The metaverse could provide new and invaluable opportunities for immersive, hyper-realistic, simulation-based training, revolutionising medical training for students and doctors. VR is used to take trainees inside the human body, providing a 360° view with precise anatomical detail. In the metaverse, a patient's pathophysiology, anatomy, and physiology could be viewed together, allowing a deeper understanding of a patient’s problem and improving treatment options.

For areas where access to practical training is limited, medical students can share the same virtual facilities as students studying in hospitals and schools with greater opportunities. For example, the Human Anatomy Atlas tool from Visible Body shows 3D models of the body via a smartphone camera and allows students to rotate and interact with the models.

Medical schools are beginning to incorporate AR into learning models to provide students with immersive, hands-on learning opportunities. AR programs allow medical students to watch simulated surgeries and procedures while simulating operating rooms can also allow medical students to practice procedures safely at high volume with minimal risk. 

In the metaverse, immersive experiences could be created from real surgeries, allowing trainees to experience the procedure as if conducting it themselves. For example, Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine in Ohio has developed virtual cadaver software using Microsoft’s HoloLens technology. As a result, it no longer uses human corpses in its anatomy curriculum. The university claims that its medical students learned anatomical content twice as fast compared to traditional cadaver dissection.

For surgeons, virtual practice allows for greater complexity for specific procedures. New surgical methods or innovative surgical tools can be trialled and tested before being used in real-world procedures. In the metaverse, doctors could use digital twins to simulate different surgical approaches to see potential outcomes without putting a patient at risk. The metaverse could also provide a virtual platform for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge between practitioners across the world. This would allow for the planning and execution of complex cases.

In 2020, Johnson & Johnson and Osso VR distributed nearly 200 Oculus Quest headsets to surgeons across the US in a program where the company received training performance data in return. Following a successful pilot, Osso VR received $66m in funding in 2022 to broaden access to virtual surgical education for all healthcare professionals. In addition, SentiAR created the first intraprocedural 3D AR platform for surgeons, where real-time holographic visualisations of the patient’s anatomy float above the patient, allowing surgeons to perform procedures with their hands while viewing the virtual image. The platform has proved especially useful in cardiac surgeries.

Although AR and VR technologies are showing promise for medical training, healthcare providers are still a long way from adopting metaverse-orientated medical training. Huge investment is required as new technologies entering the market are costly. For example, the Quest Pro standalone VR headset for business use is currently priced at around $1,500.

For use in medical training, students and doctors will need access to new equipment and a fast and reliable internet connection for video streaming. Training of existing practitioners would be costly and time-consuming and could cause increased stress and distraction for busy practitioners trying to use unfamiliar tools. Practicing surgeons would also need to master technologies before being able to use them in practice or to teach junior staff and students.

Learning institutions would need to integrate existing medical software and curriculums into the metaverse while considering patents and copyright. New technologies increase the risk of security breaches in healthcare systems, impacting patient privacy.

The immersive environment in the metaverse can help doctors to explain diseases and treatment plans to patients. Doctors can use 3D imaging to show disease or injury states to patients and demonstrate different treatment options. Also, by conducting AR simulations of chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, or diabetes, physicians can better identify potential areas of treatment or therapy. Customers involved in this way can feel more comfortable and confident, leading to better adherence and health outcomes. Immersive environments could also be useful for caregivers, teaching them how to care for a family member at home.

The metaverse could also use digital twin technology to bring healthcare one step closer to truly personalised medicine. Users could create a digital version of themselves that would simulate their external appearance and inner traits based on genetic information and previous health history. The digital twin could then predict how patients would respond to different treatments, helping to choose the best course of action for each individual.  

VR has been used successfully as a therapy, particularly for psychological and neurology indications. VR can safely expose and reduce patient phobias and mentally stimulate patients with neurological disorders, aiming to enhance their cognitive functions. In December 2022, UK-based OxfordVR and US-based BehaVR merged to tackle the growing global mental health crisis, offering immersive VR treatment options for stress, anxiety, and fear. The metaverse could enhance support for individuals suffering from mental health issues or chronic conditions by providing virtual support groups, allowing participants to engage in a community. These alternative options may be revolutionary for people who have not had success with drugs or other treatment options. 

The metaverse could also facilitate physical therapy and rehabilitation, especially for individuals with mobility issues or those based in remote areas with limited access to health facilities. For example, medical devices company Penumbra has released a VR rehabilitation platform that uses connected sensors on the body and guides patients through exercises. As a result, the full-body movement of the patient can be tracked and monitored in real-time.

The metaverse could also improve access to care for all patients, regardless of location. The use of telemedicine surged during Covid-19, and practitioners found they could efficiently and quickly diagnose many conditions without needing to examine patients physically. While not at the same level as at the start of the pandemic, demand for digital solutions to access healthcare services has remained high since.

Telemedicine consultations through VR would allow patients to access the best specialists anywhere. Doctors and patients could share the same virtual space, and doctors could even examine a patient through a 3D projection. Patients living in remote regions could be seen by healthcare professionals without having to travel great distances. Access to care for disabled or elderly people could improve significantly. Virtual pharmacies could allow patients to order prescriptions in the metaverse and have their drugs delivered to their real homes. For example, US pharmacy chain CVS has filed to trademark its pharmacy, virtual goods, and health services in the metaverse.

Virtual hospitals would improve patient access to treatment by reducing distance barriers and long waiting times. Medical professionals could undertake various services, including diagnosis, rehabilitation, and therapy. For example, UAE-based healthcare company Thumbay Group announced in late-2022 that it would launch the first hospital in the metaverse. People will enter as avatars, tour the hospital, and even have consultations with physicians. It has also begun introducing AR and VR headsets to long-term care patients who are bed-ridden and paralysed.

Remote access to healthcare services in the metaverse will depend on access to the necessary equipment. The metaverse promises to improve access to care for all patients, but lack of access to or the unaffordability of technology will further contribute to the current inequality in access to healthcare. Not all patients will be positive about receiving treatment online or remotely. Older populations may find it difficult to adapt and embrace new technologies. The use of telemedicine and virtual hospitals bring issues around patient confidentiality. Enhanced security systems will be needed to ensure that patient data is accessible only to specific hospital staff.

In a recent GlobalData poll, over half of the respondents said they would attend a telehealth appointment in the metaverse. However, almost half would never consider or feel apprehensive about attending a telehealth appointment in the metaverse. This may be attributed to the fact that the potential of the metaverse for telemedicine has not been fully discovered, and therefore the benefits remain speculative for individuals seeking treatment.

The Covid-19 pandemic drove changes to how clinical trials were conducted worldwide. As Covid-19 began to disrupt clinical trials in early 2020, many regulatory bodies worldwide, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), issued guidance on maintaining clinical trial continuity. These included using virtual visits, phone interviews, self-administration, and remote monitoring. Companies that had not considered the decentralised clinical trial (DCT) model before started rapidly implementing new technologies and procedures.

The use of remote clinical trials during the pandemic has further increased the adoption of DCTs in the post-Covid world. Remote clinical trials help increase the number of patients included and reduce the number lost to follow-up. Decentralisation can also lessen the workload for trial investigators by allowing traditional site activities (e.g., drug administration, assessments) to occur remotely. The efficiency of trials has been improved through ongoing technological advances, enabling health data collection to occur using remote monitoring tools such as telemedicine, mobile health apps, and wearables.

Virtual health facilities in the metaverse could improve the ease and efficiency of conducting clinical trials. The metaverse could attract a more diverse pool of patients and enable access to hard-to-reach patient groups, as follow-up visits and data could be easily collected regardless of location. Pharmaceutical companies could use the metaverse to promote trials, helping to attract new participants. Digital incentives, such as crypto-based rewards or special access non-fungible tokens (NFTs), could also be created. Future clinical trials would not be as disrupted by new pandemics, unlike the disruption in clinical trials caused by Covid-19.

Digital twins could help to replicate clinical trials in the metaverse. A digital twin of a trial participant would theoretically be created using all existing health data such as historical scans (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerised tomography (CT) scans, ultrasounds), patients’ electronic medical records, and information from wearable devices measuring real-time physical parameters. These virtual patients could then be used in the clinical trial, and ongoing health, response to treatment, and adverse reactions could be monitored more conveniently. Digital twins could be used to predict different patient responses, reducing or eliminating the need for placebo drugs. Virtual patients would also increase the safety of clinical trials by minimising the hazardous impact of some early-stage drugs on patients.  

However, creating digital spaces in the clinical trial space must respect current recommendations around clinical trials and related ethics. The digital space must be safe, secure, and private, respecting patient autonomy. This includes patient consent and regulation of when and how patient monitoring can occur. Currently, recruiting patients across multiple countries for clinical trials is challenging, as every country has different data protection laws. Creating a virtual space accessible to all regions will create additional data protection challenges. Collaboration between various regulatory authorities will be crucial if these virtual platforms are to become a reality.

The metaverse can potentially speed up target identification, reduce cost and time to run reliable clinical trials, and improve the efficiency of drug manufacturing. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted issues around complex drug development, including research, drug discovery, virtual clinical trials, development, and a faster supply chain. 

The emergence of VR applications has revolutionised molecular models. New virtual and immersive environments allow researchers to view and manipulate models in 3D. This 360-degree view allows a deeper exploration of molecular structures previously limited to a computer screen. As a result, scientists can predict the effects of conformational changes in molecules, which has significant potential to speed up the drug discovery process. For example, VR software provider Nanome has created a collaborative molecular modelling tool that allows professional researchers to study viral proteins in a virtual environment. The platform has become a collaboration tool for scientists, allowing them and their clients to work together in a virtual private room.  

The metaverse could support a global drug discovery and research platform, allowing collaboration between leading scientists. New molecular structures could be secured in a blockchain and accessed only by authorised users, enhancing the safety of data sharing and supporting proof of origin. However, the metaverse is unlikely to overtake traditional drug discovery practices completely. Technological advances will enhance the process, but human innovation will remain essential.