Amrita Hospital Deploys South Asia's First Healthcare Extended Reality Ecosystem

Amrita Hospital in Kochi has created a first-of-its-kind Extended Reality (XR) Supported healthcare ecosystem that makes use of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies to significantly improve patient care, medical training, and research capabilities. Experts assert that the incorporation of this cutting-edge technology into clinical practice is a significant development for the Indian healthcare sector.

According to Dr. Mahesh Kappanayil, Professor, Paediatric Cardiologist and Lead at 3D Labs, Amrita Hospital, the new technology has already been used to treat 150 patients, and has exhibited excellent outcomes.

He also said that extended reality was first popularized in the gaming industry, and overcoming the difficulty of integrating gaming technologies into medicine was a big challenge. As a result, this achievement builds on Amrita Hospital's existing 3D lab, 3D printing capabilities, and the establishment of the first-ever virtual reality lab at the point of care.

The extended reality-supported system lets doctors see organs as holograms, allowing for patient-specific, precision medicine to be delivered.

He goes on to say that Amrita Hospital is collaborating closely with industry leaders like Microsoft and other developers to add immersive teaching tools for medical students, telemedicine operations, and improved remote connectivity to the XR system. The first "point of care" medical 3D printing and virtual reality laboratory in India is located at Amrita Hospital in Kochi. Multiple medical specialties are now utilizing this cutting-edge facility, which is one of the few of its kind, to provide patients with precise and individualized medicine.