Virtual Reality (VR)-powered head-mounted wearable devices are leading to new developments in cardiovascular treatment and improved outcomes for patients, researchers report.

The VR technology is helping in cardiac care, includes education and training, pre-procedural planning, visualisation during a procedure and rehabilitation in post-stroke patients.

"For years, VR technology promised the ability for physicians to move beyond 2-D screens in order to understand organ anatomy noninvasively," said Jennifer NA Silva, Assistant Professor at the Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis.

However, bulky equipment and low-quality virtual images hindered these developments.

"Led by the mobile device industry, recent hardware and software developments-such as head mounted displays and advances in display systems-have enabled new classes of 3-D platforms that are transforming clinical cardiology," Silva added in a paper appearing in the journal JACC: Basic to Translational Science.

VR provides complete control over the wearer's visual and auditory experience as they interact within a completely synthetic environment, while Augmented Reality (AR) allows the wearer to see their native environment while placing 2-D or 3-D images within it.

Merged reality and Mixed Reality (MR) allow for interaction with digital objects while preserving a sense of presence within the true physical environment.

"These technologies make up the full spectrum of extended reality, which is transforming the practice of cardiovascular medicine," the researchers noted.

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The technology allows patients and family members to better understand their cardiac conditions, helping them to make more informed decisions surrounding their medical care.

Medical students and trainees can better visualise cardiac abnormalities with VR, which allows trainees to simulate operating environments and multiple physicians to interact while viewing the same educational material in a natural environment.

However, the authors said there were still challenges and limitations.

"These technologies are still constrained due to cost, size, weight and power to achieve the highest visual quality, mobility, processing speed and interactivity," Silva said. (IANS)