Article

Using AR and VR in the OR

April 24, 2025
Surgeon reviewing scans

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) could revolutionize various aspects of healthcare. In fact, they’ve already started making their mark.

AR is the real-time integration of digital content, such as images or videos, with a user’s real-world environment, like a physical operating room (OR). It’s different from but complementary to VR, which is a virtual and immersive technology that creates a fully digital landscape, allowing users to interact with a simulated world.

These technologies are poised to play an increasingly critical role in healthcare. For example, they allow physicians to have pre-operation access to three-dimensional renderings of hearts, eyes, knee joints and more before surgeries.

“VR and AR tools can display interactive 2D and 3D images of physical procedures or anatomy, helping surgeons to maximize efficiency and minimize risk in the operating room,” according to Built In.

Likewise, AR can help with real-time data visualization during surgery, as demonstrated by Standford Medicine. It used AR to successfully perform an ablation—a procedure used to treat heart arrhythmias that cause rapid or irregular heart rates.
 
“For now, we hope that this first demonstration will help establish the tool as something surgeons and proceduralists can use to reduce barriers to quickly and easily review and manipulate intraprocedural data, increasing efficiency and clinician enjoyment,” says the cardiac electrophysiologist at Stanford Health Care who performed the procedure.
 

TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN PATIENT CARE

Technology is modernizing non-acute care by supporting more efficient patient management, better remote monitoring of patients and faster digital workflows. Advanced technology can deliver additional support by enabling non-acute healthcare providers to deliver more personalized care, while reducing costs and improving patient outcomes.
 
AR and VR can take these benefits to a new level. “These advanced technologies break down barriers by offering remote consultations, immersive training, mental health treatments and enhancing telemedicine services,” according to ARVH Health.
 
Additional benefits of AR and VR technologies include offering realistic and virtual medical training, improving patient care and transforming operating room experiences. For example, the technologies provide immersive simulations for medical training, allowing users to practice complex procedures in a risk-free environment. AR and VR also enable real-time visualization and guidance during surgeries for improved precision.
 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized 69 medical devices that incorporate AR and VR. According to the FDA, AR and VR have the potential to transform care by delivering new types of treatments and analysis, changing how patient care is delivered.
 
“Central to their potential in diagnosis and treatment is their ability to deliver both standard and entirely new types of content in highly immersive and realistic ways, remotely, and tailored to a variety of clinical contexts,” the FDA explains. “Physicians, patients and caregivers can enlist AR/VR to help them prepare for, or perform, certain treatments or procedures.”

Where care is delivered, along with the patient experience, can also be impacted. “Unlimited reality technology could make it possible for patients to receive therapy in an immersive, customizable, safe and if required, anonymous environment,” according to Deloitte.

THE ROLE OF VR AND AR IN SURGICAL TRAINING

A critical use for VR is to provide medical training for students and practitioners. It offers realistic simulations for surgical procedures, allowing users to practice complex operations in a controlled environment.

Likewise, VR provides a hands-on approach to learning anatomy in a virtual environment, which can benefit medical students and others. Meanwhile, AR is already used in pre-operative planning. For example, three-dimensional renderings supported by AR help healthcare professionals with pre-op analysis by offering realistic models of organs, like the heart, so surgeons can better identify potential risks and develop more precise surgical plans tailored to each patient’s unique anatomy and needs.

“AR is transforming healthcare by revolutionizing interactions between doctors and patients, advancing medical education, enabling disease simulation and enhancing surgical visualization,” according to News Medical. 

OPTIMIZING AR IN THE OPERATING ROOM

With its ability to deliver real-time data visualizations, AR can display critical information, like a patient’s heart rate or respiratory rate, without interrupting the surgeon’s focus. Augmented assistance offers additional value by providing AR overlays that enhance precision during surgery. This precision is accomplished by guiding surgical instruments or marking critical areas for operations.
 
“Augmented reality (AR) extends the capabilities of surgical planning and assistance by providing critical real-time data and visualization directly within the surgical field,” explains VOKA. “With overlay of 3D images of a patient’s anatomy or scans, AR enhances surgical precision, enabling surgeons to visualize crucial details like arteries, nerves or tumors with ‘see-through’ vision, particularly valuable in minimally invasive surgeries.”

Surgeons and other medical professionals can use AR and VR to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing with their peers and experts. The technologies break down geographical barriers, enabling remote interactions and consultations. With AR and VR, specialists can provide real-time guidance and feedback from anywhere in the world, promoting more effective teamwork and improving patient outcomes. 

THE FUTURE OF VR AND AR IN HEALTHCARE

AR and VR are positioned to increasingly improve medical care, surgeries, treatments and processes. They can also accelerate training and research through data visualization and patient simulations.
 
Looking forward, VR and AR could integrate with artificial intelligence for predictive analysis in surgeries and other healthcare applications. This combination of technologies could unlock new levels of precision, efficiency and personalization in healthcare, laying the foundation for advancements in care and medical innovation.
 
Modern technologies already demonstrate value by advancing OR experiences while opening new opportunities for pre-ops, remote consultations and collaborative care. With the FDA already authorizing numerous devices incorporating AR and VR, the potential for these technologies to reshape diagnostics, treatments and healthcare delivery is enormous.

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