Food and Drug Administration (The FDA is launching a new initiative, Home as a Health Care Hub, focused on improving health equity by using augmented and virtual reality to reimagine the home environment as part of the health care system. announced the launch of
The FDA contracted with an architectural firm to design buildings with health and equity in mind, and considered what it would take to transform a home into a medical facility.
The agency will work with patient organizations, health care providers, and the medical device industry to build the hub, taking into account the structural and critical elements of housing needed to achieve an appropriate home health care environment.
“This hub is designed as an augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR)-enabled home prototype and is expected to be completed later this year,” said Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). I am. ), Dr. Michelle Tarver, CDRH's Deputy Director for Transformation, said in a statement.
The lab will connect those most affected by health inequities and provide medical device developers, providers, and policy makers with ideas for developing home-based services with health equity in mind. It is intended to.
The prototype will initially focus on building structures in rural and low-income areas where diabetes is a major disease.
bigger trends
The FDA's home as a healthcare hub is the latest example of how augmented reality (i.e. virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality) is entering the healthcare field.
based in california AppliedVR, a long-time player in the medical augmented reality (medical XR) space, received the first FDA De Novo clearance for an immersive experience in 2021 for its offering RelieVRx (formerly known as EaseVR).
RelieVRx is an 8-week, self-guided home virtual reality program that allows patients to participate in VR sessions that use cognitive behavioral therapy to treat pain. Sessions offer content such as breathing, mindfulness, relaxation responses, and executive function exercises.
Other medical XR companies include a Boston-based VR-enabled mental health company XRHealth, virtual training company OssoVR; digital mental health company Headspace, which released a new virtual reality app Headspace XR in March; oVRcome, a New Zealand-based virtual reality and cognitive behavioral therapy company; Movement seen in the VMocion XR experience.
Even the augmented reality headset that tech giant Apple released earlier this year. Apple Vision Pro has entered the healthcare space with companies such as diagnostic imaging and multimedia company Visage Imaging, California-based healthcare system Cedars-Sinai, and San Diego-based healthcare group Sharp HealthCare. is used by
still, Experts say that while augmented reality is a game-changer for healthcare, especially psychiatry, there are concerns that XR is being introduced too quickly to mental health.
