UT Southwestern’s 28th Capra Interdisciplinary Healthcare Symposium presented current clinical uses of virtual reality (VR) and early data supporting its role in surgical education, pain and anxiety reduction, and rehabilitation. About 130 people attended sessions that paired demonstrations with short research briefings.
Associate Professor Ganesh Sankaranarayanan, Ph.D., argued that VR headsets and simulations now let trainees practice surgical skills repeatedly and transfer basic techniques such as suturing into better operating-room performance. "Virtual reality is one of the most powerful teaching tools we have," he said during a talk titled "Transforming Surgical Education Through Virtual Reality: From Simulation to Skill Transfer." Sankaranarayanan traced training from box trainers to present-day VR simulators and said the technology can reduce errors by enabling rehearsal of rare procedures.
Omaira Azizad, M.D., discussed clinical applications beyond training, including preoperative VR walkthroughs to familiarize patients with the operating-room team and immersive distraction for pediatric burn care. "VR can allow virtual OR walk-throughs, giving patients an idea of all the people involved on the surgical day and understanding the anesthesia process," she said. Azizad cited the theory that diverting attention can blunt pain responses and noted prior work on immersive interventions published in the Annals of Surgery.
Research presented at the event included a pilot protocol from Traci Betts, D.P.T., studying immersive VR during exercise testing for people at risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. In that pilot, participants who performed below 80% of predicted fitness showed a "meaningful improvement"—defined by the team as greater than 5% higher peak oxygen consumption—when exercise testing used an immersive VR cycling scenario versus standard testing, the researchers reported.
The session closed with student panels and a call for interdisciplinary projects. "This year’s symposium highlighted the enormous impact of virtual reality on medical training, surgical care, rehabilitation, and research," said Jason Zafereo, M.P.T., Ph.D., chair of the School of Health Professions Research Advisory Committee.
Photo credit: www.utsouthwestern.edu
Tags: virtual reality, surgical simulation, pain management, rehabilitation, exercise physiology
Topics: Wearable neurotech, Mental wellness & meditation, Neuroscience & neuroplasticity