Doctors in Taiwan are learning to treat coronavirus patients using VR headsets, AP reports.
A mobile phone brand has developed a system which can teach the basic procedures before medical staff face the dangers of the real wards.
Dr. Ke Jian-yu, the chief resident doctor at Taipei Tzu-Chi Hospital’s emergency department is practising how to care for COVID-19 patients.
But he doesn’t need to meet a real-life person to learn the basics.
Instead, the training takes place in a virtual reality – or VR – ward.
The SimX VR medical training system has been developed by Taiwanese mobile phone brand HTC and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation.
Goggles and control sticks immerse the trainee into a virtual environment.
It means they can test skills and learn from their mistakes without any risk to their own health.
“Actually, I feel a lot pressure before I treat COVID-19 patients because we currently don’t have a vaccine or efficient medicine against this disease,” explains Ke Jian-yu.
“The only thing we can do is protect ourselves. Of course, we also have a family besides work, I am also concerned that I might give the virus to my family or friends. So before I enter the ward, I am almost prepared to die. I would think: I might not be able to see my family by the end of this month.”
The trainee learns the procedures, which are almost as detailed as the real physical environment is, when treating a COVID-19 patient.
They memorize how to put on and take off protective suits and get familiar with taking samples until these actions become natural reflexes.
Ke trained with the VR device before he treated COVID-19 patients in Tzu Chi Hospital.
“I feel that with prior practicing, I can memorize the procedure of the job. And when I treat a patient for real, I can take more care about their feelings and focus on their symptoms,” he says.
“I believe that using this training system will allow me to enhance the quality of my treatment, focus on my diagnosis, or even the choice of the medicines. I will not have to worry that I am not wearing enough gloves, or if I have worn my mask inside out.”
The virtual environment allows the trainee to take a medical sample from the patient’s throat, as if it were a real patient.
And using the system is no more difficult than mastering a video game.
“I believe that many of us have played video games, including VR video games. Our VR medical training system is very similar to VR video games. Therefore it is very easy to start. The simulations are very simple. Trainees just have to learn some basic procedures,” says Yiang Giou-teng, Director at Department of Emergency Medicine at Taipei Tzu-Chi hospital.
At a time when medical services around the world are working flat out to treat coronavirus patients, the VR system means another doctor does not have to come off the wards to train colleagues.
“Its biggest advantage is that the trainee does not need the physical presence of a teacher. Students just have to know how to use this system, and the system is the teacher,” says Yiang.
“They can learn with this system at any time they want. We can also have a team of two or three other students to take care of a same patient, I will just need two or three other sets of this device, then students can learn to take care of the patient at the same time,” he adds.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The vast majority of people recover.
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