Senior Consultant of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Dr. John Raj said the VR technology will allow ICU doctors to build effective procedural habits and enhance their skills, which will ensure positive outcomes for patients.

“When clinicians are put in a central line, each professional possesses their own way of administering certain steps, however ensuring ICU clinicians are trained in a virtual reality environment will aid in instilling standardised habits,” Dr Raj said.

A study conducted by the University of Wollongong last year found VR training helped student clinicians improve performance by 32 per cent and adherence to safety and hygiene by 39 per cent.

Provided by Sydney-based Vantari VR, which is working in hospitals in New South Wales and Western Australia, as well as internationally, the training will impart life-saving procedural techniques through repetition without the risk associated with working amongst patients.

Dr Raj said VR training will help ensure the right procedures are always followed, eliminating a training problem found in most ICU departments.

“Historically, ICU clinicians have widely taken a ‘see one, do one, teach one’ approach, which leaves room for error if the procedure studied is not conducted accurately,” Dr Raj said.

“Not only does this pose a risk to the accuracy in which the clinician then goes on to perform the procedure, but also to those junior clinicians they go on to teach in the future.”

Vantari VR Co-Founder and Co-CEO Dr. Nishanth Krishnananthan said their system is an end-to-end training ecosystem.

“The technology is built to scale into what can be considered a healthcare metaverse where users will be able to experience a living, breathing hospital where students, nurses and doctors can train in all of the procedures and specialties,” Dr Krishnananthan said.

“Vantari is riding the wave of the metaverse, which will allow us to be truly accessible – a virtual hospital where every healthcare professional can train with us at home before they even step foot in a real hospital – a true Virtual Mediverse.”

The future for VR technologies within the medical system looks very promising.

“It’s great to work with Dr. John Raj and his team at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital as they join the journey to future-proof education and training,” Dr Krishnananthan said.

Vantari is looking to establish more partnerships in the Middle East, India and the rest of Asia.

“We couldn’t be more excited for the future as Vantari continues to be integrated into hospitals, universities and medical device organisations globally.”