Blockchain and AR/VR: Emerging Technologies in Healthcare
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In the rapidly evolving area of healthcare, technological advancements are playing a pivotal role in enhancing patient care, data security, and operational efficiency. Among these innovations, blockchain in healthcare technology has emerged as a transformative force, offering solutions to longstanding challenges in the healthcare sector. From securing patient data to streamlining clinical trials, blockchain’s decentralized and immutable nature holds immense potential.
This comprehensive exploration delves into the multifaceted applications of blockchain in healthcare, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and the promising integration with emerging technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Furthermore, this blog will enlighten you on blockchain in healthcare with the integration of VR/AR.
What is Blockchain?
At its center, blockchain is an innovation that records exchanges over different computers in a way that guarantees the information is secure, transparent, and tamper-proof. Each square in the chain contains a list of exchanges, and once a piece is completed, it is connected to the past one, shaping a chronological chain.
Why Blockchain in Healthcare?
Blockchain in healthcare is utilized for everything from securing sensitive information to overseeing the pharmaceutical supply chain.
And it couldn’t come at a more critical time: The United States is anticipated to spend nearly 20 percent of its GDP on healthcare by 2032 as tall healthcare costs, wasteful ones, and consistent information breaches continue to torment the industry. These costly issues are impelling a drive for greater effectiveness and advancement.
The healthcare industry grapples with issues like data breaches, fragmented patient records, and inefficient administrative processes. Blockchain in healthcare addresses these challenges by:
Enhancing Data Security and Privacy: By decentralizing data storage and employing cryptographic techniques, blockchain in healthcare ensures that patient records are secure and accessible only to authorized individuals.
Improving Interoperability: Blockchain in healthcare facilitates seamless data exchange among healthcare providers, ensuring that patient information is consistent and up-to-date across different systems.
Streamlining Administrative Processes: Smart contracts—self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into code—can automate tasks like billing and claims processing, reducing errors and administrative costs.
How Blockchain in Healthcare is Powering a Safer, Smarter Ecosystem
Blockchain technology in healthcare is making significant strides worldwide, offering a range of capabilities. The evolution of record-keeping is transformative — healthcare researchers can securely exchange patient records, manage supply chains, and share persistent medical records effectively.
Blockchain in healthcare streamlines the entire pharmaceutical industry, from record creation to storage. Clogs, cargo handling, and speed can all be monitored using IoT and Blockchain technology in healthcare. It enables more efficient procurement planning to anticipate disruptions and shortages in hospitals, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities for specific medications.
Implementing digitized systems built on Blockchain ensures that logistics data remains unaltered, increasing transparency and preventing the unauthorized management of records, payments, and pharmaceuticals by various stakeholders. This advancement can significantly improve patient outcomes while maintaining cost efficiency.
The principles of Blockchain technology are straightforward yet continually evolving, expanding to accommodate the diverse needs and unique characteristics of various industries. The independent Blockchain system offers comprehensive monitoring options and allows for rapid updates of outcomes.
Blockchain in healthcare has the potential to significantly reduce financial losses, prevent theft, and curb the illegal exchange of records. It addresses issues related to data tampering and information breaches, allowing for the secure transfer of immutable, time-stamped clinical trial reports and results, thereby minimizing fraud and data inaccuracies.
The healthcare industry is increasingly recognizing the critical role of Blockchain technology in enhancing security, transparency, and operational efficiency.
Key Applications of Blockchain in Healthcare
- Secure Patient Data Management
Data breaches in healthcare have exposed millions of patient records, underscoring the need for robust security measures. Because of its decentralized association, the system has no single failure point, thus making it hard for hackers to infiltrate. The patients gain ownership of their data; hence, they decide who can access their medical history, establishing trust and compliance with privacy legislation such as HIPAA and GDPR.
- Enhanced Interoperability and Data Sharing
Healthcare providers often operate in silos, leading to fragmented patient information. Blockchain in healthcare enables the creation of a unified, decentralized patient database accessible across institutions. Smart contracts can automate data sharing, ensuring that medical professionals have real-time access to accurate patient information, thereby improving diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
- Transparent Supply Chain Management
Counterfeit drugs pose a severe threat to safety. The Blockchain in healthcare can provide end-to-end traceability of a pharmaceutical from manufacturing to distribution. With each transaction being recorded immutably, the stakeholders can check drug authenticity and thus help support regulatory measures like the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).
- Efficient Clinical Trials and Research
Clinical trials are essential for medical advancements, but are often hindered by data integrity issues and administrative delays. Blockchain in healthcare can securely record trial data, ensuring its authenticity and reducing the risk of manipulation. Smart contracts can manage patient consent and automate compliance tracking, accelerating the research process.
- Decentralized Healthcare Models
Blockchain technology in healthcare enables the development of decentralized healthcare systems where patients have sovereignty over their medical data. This model supports telemedicine and cross-border healthcare by ensuring secure verification of medical credentials and patient history, thus democratizing access to healthcare services.
Integrating AR and VR in Healthcare with Blockchain
People don’t go for expensive things like medical procedures. Various people suffer from therapeutic fears. Did you know that two in three children and one in four grown-ups have a strong fear of needles? A direct blood test may end up as an awful dream for them if a sustained vein is missed to start with. This happens exceptionally often—in 40% of all blood tests. But it doesn’t have to be like this.
With the right computerized courses of action for healthcare, specialists can reduce patients’ fears. We’re talking about virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (AR). When therapeutic caretakers utilize AR and VR in healthcare procedures for blood tests, their precision rises to 90%. If patients knew this as of now, they might visit clinics that utilize these accuracy-enabling progresses.
1. Utilize Case 1. AR for 3D Body Mapping
Performing surgery is continuously hazardous. Frequently, issues emerge from not having a clear view of a patient’s inner organs. MRIs and X-rays offer assistance as specialists explore, but the picture, as it were, becomes clear during the surgery itself. In a few cases, this can lead to surgical blunders that disrupt the recuperation process and indeed cost patients their lives. As for healthcare offices, they have to bargain with legal debate, fines, and the misfortune of reputation.
To dodge that situation, new tech companies plan AR apparatuses that make virtual 3D patients with body maps. To begin with, the arrangement includes MRI checks. At that point, it forms the data obtained from the filters and presents it in 3D body layers.
Spencer Hospital needs to make therapeutic methods more secure and accomplish more noteworthy accuracy in diagnostics and surgery. To accomplish this, they attempted an AR arrangement in their day-to-day treatment exercises that was outlined by a US startup. The AR apparatus is based on synchronous localization and mapping (Pummel) innovation. To see inward organs, specialists fairly require aligning the smartphone toward a particular region of the patient’s body. They can outline the body, counting its organs, veins, and any tumors.
The arrival of exact body checks empowers therapeutic controls. These have made AE, increasing the increment of biopsy victories by 50% and the precision of aneurysm surgeries by 30%.
*www.spencehospital.com
Benefits:
- Achieving more secure restorative controls with more exact body maps
- Having a superior view of a patient’s internal organs with 3D anatomy
- Improving complicated therapeutic methods to discover the best treatment alternative
2. Utilize Case 3. VR for Mental Wellbeing Treatment
Mental Wellbeing America rings the alert: one-fifth of the adult American populace suffers from some sort of mental ailment. 60% get no treatment or pharmaceuticals since they overlook their side effects. A few purposely put off going to their specialist since they fear the obscure. What’s more, many are anxious about taking pills due to the plausibility of compulsion without positive effects.
VR has brought sensational changes here. To begin with and first, it encourages drug-free treatment. This has been demonstrated to be viable, comfortable, and helpful, as patients may not indeed require to leave their homes.
The innovation empowers contemplation and breathing exercises in immersive situations. It, moreover, gives individuals the opportunity to go up against their fears.
For example, somebody who has a fear of insects or huge waves can handle their fears in a virtual environment. They might ride those huge waves or play with insects. This includes a component of fun to a dreadful circumstance, whereas instructing stress-management strategies and adapting mechanisms.
There are too many diversions individuals can utilize for diversion. These work well for uneasiness administration and relief.
Overall, VR for mental wellbeing treatment offers a sort of treatment that can ease uneasiness, fears, and symptoms of misery. For example, patients learn how to oversee their side effects in a recreation so that they can apply that information to the real world.
Real-Life Illustration: Treating Cognitive and Behavioral Wellbeing Conditions
XRHealth created a virtual clinic that treats mental wellbeing disarranges utilizing VR treatment. The arrangement comprises VR headsets, a portable application, and an information analytics stage. The clinic is designed to de-stress the apprehensive framework and treat psychosis and sadness. What’s vital is that patients get treatment from the comfort of their homes with direction from an authorized advisor.
Learn from the Experts: Explore Blockchain in Healthcare with IIT Delhi’s HCI 5.0
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Learning outcomes from the CEP, IIT Delhi HCI 5.0:
- Understanding of Human Physiology to Pharma to Designing for Healthcare
- Risk Administration and Administrative Endorsements for MedTech Products
- Operations Administration and Enormous Information Analytics for Healthcare
- Integration of AI, increased reality, and mechanical autonomy driving to Industry 5.0
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is blockchain in healthcare?
Blockchain in healthcare refers to the use of blockchain technology to securely store, share, and manage health data across various stakeholders, such as patients, doctors, hospitals, insurers, and researchers, ensuring transparency, security, and immutability.
2. How does blockchain improve healthcare data security?
Blockchain uses cryptographic algorithms and decentralized data storage to prevent unauthorized access and tampering. This makes patient records more secure and resistant to data breaches or loss.
3. What are some real-world blockchain applications in healthcare?
Real-world applications include:
- Secure patient record management
- Tracking pharmaceuticals through the supply chain
- Verifying medical credentials
- Managing clinical trial data
- Ensuring insurance claim transparency
4. How can blockchain help with interoperability in healthcare systems?
Blockchain creates a unified, decentralized network that allows different healthcare systems to access and share data securely and in real time, reducing information silos and improving coordinated care.
5. Can blockchain be integrated with technologies like AR and VR in healthcare?
Yes, blockchain can securely store and verify medical data used in AR/VR simulations, diagnostics, and training modules, ensuring authenticity and improving patient engagement and professional training accuracy.