Virtual Reality in the Neurosciences: Current Practice and Future Directions.

Hayden Scott,William Coggins,Mohamed Abdeldayem,Brooke Elberson,Erika Petersen,Tuhin Virmani,Connor Griffin,Linda J Larson-Prior

doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.807195

Hayden Scott, William Coggins + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2021.807195

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Abstract

Virtual reality has made numerous advancements in recent years and is used with increasing frequency for education, diversion, and distraction. Beginning several years ago as a device that produced an image with only a few pixels, virtual reality is now able to generate detailed, three-dimensional, and interactive images. Furthermore, these images can be used to provide quantitative data when acting as a simulator or a rehabilitation device. In this article, we aim to draw attention to these areas, as well as highlight the current settings in which virtual reality (VR) is being actively studied and implemented within the field of neurosurgery and the neurosciences. Additionally, we discuss the current limitations of the applications of virtual reality within various settings. This article includes areas in which virtual reality has been used in applications both inside and outside of the operating room, such as pain control, patient education and counseling, and rehabilitation. Virtual reality's utility in neurosurgery and the neurosciences is widely growing, and its use is quickly becoming an integral part of patient care, surgical training, operative planning, navigation, and rehabilitation.

Highlights

In 1939 the view-master, a simple non-electric handheld device that created a three-dimensional environment from a slide, became the first patented virtual reality device in the United States [1]
The implementation of simulators as a foundational part of neurosurgical training contributes to an improvement in psychomotor surgical skills, safety, and cost for neurosurgical training [9, 46, 47]
Intractable epilepsy is a common indication for neurosurgical care; the possibility of photosensitive seizures induced by virtual reality (VR) devices has been discussed in the literature

Summary

Introduction

In 1939 the view-master, a simple non-electric handheld device that created a three-dimensional environment from a slide, became the first patented virtual reality device in the United States [1]. Virtual reality (VR) has progressed from the 1900s simplistic slide display to an innovative wearable device that generates a three-dimensional environment able to be manipulated by the user in a seemingly real or physical way [2, 3]. VR has expanded into a multibilliondollar industry led by technology giants such as Facebook, Sony, and Microsoft [4]. Though it has primarily been used for entertainment, the implementation of VR in medicine has been explored for the past 25 years [1, 4].

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