Immersive Virtual Reality Surgery Preparation Platform for Pediatric Patients

Children often experience heightened fear and anxiety before medical procedures, compounded by unfamiliar environments and the inability to express feelings easily. Current preparation methods involving books and personnel guidance are insufficient in alleviating these fears, leading to potential negative impacts on the surgical experience.

A healthcare organization specializing in pediatric surgery that seeks innovative solutions to reduce patient anxiety.

• Design and develop a virtual reality platform that provides a realistic yet friendly overview of the surgical environment for children.
• Create engaging and interactive content that familiarizes pediatric patients with the operating room, equipment, and process to reduce preoperative anxiety.
• Implement a scalable proof of concept to gather user and clinician feedback for future enhancements.
• Ensure the platform supports immersive experiences using existing VR hardware and is optimized for performance and user comfort.
• Expand functionalities based on feedback to cover a broader range of procedures and age groups, aiming to improve patient preparedness and procedural compliance.

• Realistic replication of operating room environments with adjustable levels of realism.
• Interactive onboarding with a friendly avatar or guide (e.g., a cartoon narwhal) to lead children through the procedure overview.
• Pre-existing (or customizable) 3D assets to create detailed yet non-scary surgical environments.
• Child-friendly interactive elements allowing children to engage with surgical instruments, equipment, and personnel virtually.
• Real-time feedback and monitoring for healthcare providers via a secondary interface to observe engagement and reactions.
• Provision for content expansion based on feedback, including additional procedures and tailored experiences for different age groups.

• Monitoring tools for real-time visualization of child interactions for healthcare providers.
• Potential integration with hospital scheduling or patient management systems for seamless deployment.
• Data collection modules for feedback and outcome measurement for iterative improvements.

• Performance optimization to maintain high frame rates (e.g., >72 FPS) for comfort and immersion.
• Support for multiple concurrent users/children to facilitate scalability in clinical settings.
• Security measures to protect patient data and interaction logs, complying with healthcare regulations.
• Robustness to ensure minimal downtime during clinical use, with quick recovery protocols.

The platform is expected to significantly reduce preoperative anxiety among pediatric patients, improving cooperation during procedures. Based on previous implementations, it could lead to enhanced patient satisfaction, decreased need for sedation, and streamlined surgical preparations, ultimately improving clinical outcomes and patient experience across healthcare facilities.