variety of augmented and virtual
reality platforms.”
The programs Dr. Young men-
tioned will be primarily delivered
in the new Healthcare Education
Campus, which will house the
Lerner College of Medicine, as well
as the CWRU School of Medicine
and Physician Assistant programs,
the Bolton School of Nursing, and
the School of Dental Medicine.
Seeing Health Care
in a New Light
With many new programs and
research studies in the works, there
is no doubt that new evidence supporting or dispelling VR’s potential
for a variety of clinical applications
will soon emerge. The excitement
around this new technology certainly mirrors that of similar trends,
including telehealth and mobile
health applications, some of which
seem to be here to stay. In the
meantime, patients and healthcare
professionals will likely take part
in these efforts and will see health
care in an entirely new light.
Laura Reagen is creative director
of Activate Health, a Phoenix- and
Nashville-based marketing firm. Activate Health specializes in providing
marketing, advertising, and public
relations support to entities across the
healthcare industry, including health
technology firms, hospitals, health
plans, and health systems.
References
1. J.I. Gold, K. A. Belmont, and D.A. Thomas. 2007. The Neurobiology of Virtual Reality Pain
Attenuation. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10( 4): 536–544. (Note: Highlights modern thinking
about VR analgesia and the neurobiological aspects to VR’s pain-attenuating properties.)
2. H.G. Hoffman, T.L. Richards, T. Van Oostrom, et al. 2007. The Analgesic Effects of Opioids and
Immersive Virtual Reality Distraction: Evidence from Subjective and Functional Brain Imaging
Assessments. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 105( 6): 1776–1783.
3. J.B. Arnold, J.L. Walters, and K.E. Ferrar. 2016. Does Physical Activity Increase after Total Hip or
Knee Arthroplasty for Osteoarthritis? A Systematic Review. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports
Physical Therapy, 46( 6): 431–442.
4. B.S. Lange, P. Reuejo, S.M. Flynn, et al. 2010. The Potential of Virtual Reality and Gaming to
Assist Successful Aging with Disability. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North
America, 21( 2): 339–356.
5. M. Chughtai, J.J. Kelly, J.M. Newman, et al. 2018. The Role of Virtual Rehabilitation in Total and
Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty. Journal of Knee Surgery, March 2018.
6. Ibid.
Zygote Medical Education’s new
VR-based clinical anatomy curriculum is
designed to facilitate anatomy education
without the use of cadavers.
exercise instruction with cognitive
(thought) demands further serves to
reinforce and ingrain those movement patterns. As a result, many
physical therapists—including those
at Cleveland Clinic—are beginning
to recognize the significant potential
for VR as a motivational tool in compliance and completion of movement
patterns related to rehabilitation,
especially post-surgery.
Real-World Anatomy
Training
Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of
Medicine has also pursued VR to
provide real-world education to its
students. The school has partnered
with Zygote Medical Education
(ZME) to launch a new VR-based
clinical anatomy curriculum. The
first application is designed for
first- and second-year medical
students and focuses on facilitating
anatomy education without the use
of cadavers. Researchers will bring
“simulated” patients and clinical
environments into the classroom
via the app, making it easy for students to learn about the anatomic
regions of the body and apply these
learnings to real-life scenarios. It
will also enable students to learn
from self-guided or instructor-led
sessions and connect with peers
from around the globe.
The new VR-enabled application
helps students match anatomy
to clinical symptoms based on
either visual or narrative clues.
For example, they can pick up a
stethoscope using controllers and
listen to the heart or lungs, even
“walking” around the patient for
optimal positioning. Students also
experience 3D diagnostic tools like
MRI and CT scans in a natural way,
using a 3D model that more accu-
rately represents a case rather
than studying these scans in a
deconstructed 2D format.
“This anatomy program, along with
other innovative problem-based
education programs, are designed
to revolutionize how we train
healthcare providers,” says James
Young, M.D., chief academic officer
at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College
of Medicine. “It is all part of an
effort that the clinic is supporting,
along with our academic partners
at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), which focuses on a
