AI-based Patient Assessment in VR Scenarios

Every patient is a unique individual and requires custom treatment. How do you prepare to face different kinds of patients and assess them based on their responses? The only way to master this is practice but how does one practice with real-patients? Experience will be one way to achieve this but what if this experience can be achieved before stepping into the real-world? Yes, this is possible and AI-based patient assessment can help do this.

The Immersive Environment of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality environment possesses an immersive quality. A user steps into a virtual environment to be detached from the real world and become part of a new set up. Realistic virtual environments serve as excellent training grounds as they are safe and allow a user to take chances. A mistake does not prove catastrophic, no matter how grave it is. If virtual characters in these environments are enabled to hold a realistic human-like conversations it can provide an excellent training environment to help healthcare professionals prepare for real-life challenges.

Conversational AI in MedVR Ed Open Scenarios

Realizing the huge benefits of conversational AI in virtual reality training solutions, MedVR Education has leveled up its open scenario simulations. Virtual patients in these simulations are AI enabled and prove to be much more than mere graphic creations. They are capable of responding to any question on any subject. Questions can range from “How are you feeling today?” to “When did the First World War begin?” Equipped with a massive database, patients in the MedVR Education simulations are similar to real-life humans.

How the Technology Works

A typical MedVR Education open scenario simulation is set in a realistic healthcare set up with a virtual patient. The user is expected to ask the patient a set of questions to which the patient responds. Based on the patient feedback, the user askes further questions until the user is satisfied to have got all required details to form a diagnosis. The entire process is made possible by a combination of technologies. Here we have Natural Language Processing (NLP), Automated Speech Recognition (ASR), and Machine Learning at play. NLP is further divided into Natural Language Understanding (NLU) and Natural Language Generation (NLG), both performing their function at two different stages. NLU helps the machine understand the learner’s question while NLG helps formulate an appropriate answer. All these technologies come together to give the learner a thorough and effective training solution.

Benefits of AI-based Patient Assessment

• Interaction skills: Interacting with virtual patients helps the user practice the skills of framing questions that will lead to desired answers. Based on patient feedback, users will also learn what follow up questions to ask.
• Accurate diagnosis: Outcomes of initial patient assessments depend largely on the patient’s feedback to questions. Asking relevant questions presents learners with certain responses on which the learner can base their inferences and learn to perform accurate diagnosis.
• Relevant treatment: When learners ask relevant questions, they will be presented with appropriate answers. Based on these answers the learner will diagnose the patient and decide upon the line of treatment to adopt.
• Safe environment: MedVR Education’s open scenarios are safe learning environments since the patients being diagnosed are virtual patients. If the user makes an incorrect diagnosis, it will not lead to life threatening consequences.

Training Scenarios and Case Studies

These scenarios are licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license so are free and openly available for faculty to use, adapt or modify.

Industry Impact and Educational Advancements

MedVR Education’s open scenario simulations come with an added benefit of customization. Powered by the AI-based Patient Assessment Tool, these scenarios can be customized by organizations to build custom patient cases suitable to specific training needs. UbiSim brings AI-Driven Insights to Nursing Education with AI Narrative Analysis, which helps educators save up to 90% of data review time and prepare nursing learners for real-world clinical challenges.

New research reveals AI is changing hospital hiring expectations. A survey shows 65% of hospital hiring leaders say it's harder to find practice-ready nurse graduates than 3 years ago; however, VR sim could reduce training time by 4 weeks. Lab Director Joanna Willett stated that the technology provides a safe environment where students can deliberately practice where they don’t have the chance to potentially harm people, ensuring guaranteed repeatable encounters safely, both physical and psychological.