Medical VR is a new frontier with exciting and fascinating possibilities. Moving not just the imagination of science-fiction fans, but also clinical researchers and real-life medical practitioners, there are increasingly numerous examples of VR having a positive effect on patients’ lives and physicians’ work.

Virtual Reality can help reduce a patient’s anxiety while in hospital, including the worry about an upcoming procedure, or the pain during or after a procedure, helping with relaxation and distraction.

LOC Medical in partnership with Electric Puppets has started with defining a standard of practice in presentation of stimuli, bio metric data, and protocol authoring using widely available Virtual Reality hardware that can be applied to a range of practice.

In a recent pilot study at St George’s Hospital in London, England, patients undergoing surgery had the option to use a VR headset prior to and during their surgery. Viewing calming landscapes, 100% of the participants reported that their overall hospital experience was improved by wearing the headset, while 94% said they felt more relaxed. In addition 80% said they felt less pain after wearing the headset and 73% reported feeling less anxious.

Austin Mills, 23, from Putney, is one of the first patients at St George’s to wear a VR headset during surgery. Austin needed surgery after breaking his scaphoid, a small bone in the wrist, following a collision with a car while on his bike.

Commenting after his operation, Austin said: “I was in a mountain setting next to a lake listening to relaxing music and guided meditation. I literally felt like I was there apart from the occasional tug on my shoulder, which was the only indication that I was in theatre.”

“The headset helped to take my mind off what was going on and I had to make a conscious effort to not fall asleep, it was extremely relaxing. I didn’t know how long I was in there for, or what was going on around me – I was completely immersed in the VR experience.“