Virtual Reality Radiology Assistant
Movement in radiological scans is causing motion blur in medical scans, and consequently is costing people their lives, particularly children. There is little to no way to know if a patient will be a movement risk. If a patient is found to be a movement risk, they are assigned an anesthesiologist to sedate them. In medical issues like oncology (the second most common use for getting an MRI) the anesthesia complicates the delicate drug cocktails like chemo or cobalt.
Getting an MRI can be intimidating for many patients, particularly children. This can cause the patient to move during the scan, which results in motion blur within the image and results in rescans having to occur. These rescans cost hospitals on average $115,000 per machine per year.
The Solution is VRRA
VRRA helps ease patient anxiety by allowing patients to acclimate to receiving MRI scans, helping reduce movement risk. With VRRA, hospitals can have their patients go through virtual MRI scans in order to monitor and test how a patient may react when they undergo an actual MRI procedure.
In doing so, VRRA allows the patient to experience an MRI and gain familiarity with the process while providing hospitals and medical staff with dynamic monitoring and procedural testing.
This monitoring process can assist medical staff in predicting which patients will require further care or the assistance of an anesthesiologist during the scanning process.
How it works
The first is simulator mode, which allows the patient to experience a full MRI scan, including simulating the confined space and the sounds the MRI machine makes, within the virtual environment. When using VRRA, the operator will have the patient wear an HTC Vive virtual reality headset and three Vive tracking pucks placed on the patient’s ankles and waist, and have the patient hold two Vive controllers. All of these will be used to track the patient’s movement.
The patient will lay down horizontally like they are going into an MRI scanner. The operator will then enter the patient’s information in a menu screen on a Windows computer before selecting different options to customize the scan, such as selecting the mode they want to have the patient go through, stimuli, and the duration of the scan. The operator will then be able to start the simulation.
When the simulated scan is complete, VRRA will export a graph of the patient's movements over the course of the scan. These graphs can give medical professionals data to determine if anesthesia is needed, or if a patient has progressed and no longer needs anesthesia.
VRRA currently contains three modes.
The second is the acclimator mode
This mode allows the operator to turn on and off certain stimuli that the patient may be exposed to during the MRI. There is a scoring metric so the patient can gamify staying still and condition themselves to not be a movement risk.
We can leverage the same environment but allow the patient to walk around in VR and explore the MRI lab using education to conquer fear and anxiety.
The third Mode uses motion sensing cameras to track a patient in live time.
The cameras will talk to a machine vision system (AI), which aims to bring in real-time patient movement tracking, allowing medical staff to not only observe patient movement during the simulation, but during the complete MRI scan as well.
Faraday cages will also be employed to those cameras positioned within the MRI lab to provide a further level of safety to the patient, medical staff, and MRI equipment.
How it Saves Lives
Partners
- Using a simulation, doctors can evaluate if they need to schedule an anesthesiologist for the scan based on the patient’s reactions.
- With tangible data acquired from the scan, staff will be able to determine if a patient no longer needs anesthesia.
- This teaches the child about the process of MRI scans, relieving anxiety through education.
- A simulation shows the patient what happens during a scan if they move too much.
How to Buy
We're bundling VRRA in partnership with HTC and HP.
VRRA will be available through CDW, and subsequently other Value Added Resellers used to purchase medical software.
Media
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