In a first ever for the health service, experts at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust have shown how augmented reality (AR) can help better deliver pain-relieving injections.
The trust is using Apple Vision Pro headsets to deliver ultrasound-guided injections for chronic pain patients, with extremely positive feedback. It has helped improve:
- Accuracy
- Efficiency
- Outcomes
Potential to benefit millions?
The organisation’s clinical lead for chronic pain medicine, Dr Arul James, pioneered the work. “We are proud to be leading on this revolutionary new use of AR in helping patients with their chronic pain treatment during ultrasound guided injections,” said Dr James.
He added: “Targeted treatments, such as injections and nerve blocks, are critical for many patients.
“Historically, these procedures required clinicians to shift their focus between the patient and the ultrasound device, affecting both accuracy and comfort, but using AR means there is no break in focus and better accuracy when delivering the treatment.”
Chronic pain impacts millions of people’s quality of life around the world, with conventional methods often not enough for complete relief. The trust says there is potential to use AR in this way for a select number of patients going forward.
Paving a way forward
George Eliot Hospital has indicated that, given the approach is still in the early phases of its development, the team is still working out how AR could possibly benefit other areas of medicine and teaching.
Dr James concluded: “The use of AR technology in this way marks a forward leap in medical procedures and patient care, offering a blend of efficiency and accuracy with the potential to improve patient experience across many other areas in the future.
“We look forward to help driving this innovation which we can use to improve treatments for the benefit of patients and the wider NHS.”
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Image credit: iStock
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