About this Research Topic

Background

Augmented, virtual and mixed reality and tangible technologies like 3D printing have a significant impact in medical training and practice. Telepresence, robotic and image assisted surgery, and brain computer interface with the help of virtual presence are a few areas where immersive media offer unprecedented potential for novel and revised results. Correct image co-registration becomes a crucial factor to accurately overlay the digital on the physical image. New maturing technologies like remote haptic interfaces become a necessity for precise surgical operations.
In addition, medical education augments the classroom with immersive digital resources that allow students to pick up anatomic structures and young doctors to operate on virtual patients before ever entering an operation theatre. The potential impact of this media revises the challenges in every aspect of medicine that they touch. Medical education and practice are called to intertwine as virtual reality mixes with 3D printing towards patient specific, custom pre-operative training, necessitating a shift to the whole preoperative process. Educational theory is challenged to find a place for such resources beyond the novelty and make them a staple of core curriculums like anatomy. Secure, stable and consistently high quality connectivity becomes a critical necessity in order to provide high quality medical services and education in remote locations. Issues of logistics and administration shape the sustainability of these endeavors and that way, modify the core technology deployment options.

This Research topic aims, through high quality articles, to facilitate multidisciplinary research revolving around the current challenges that emerge from the integration of immersive connective technologies in healthcare.
Specific areas of research within the scope of this research topic are diverse and multidisciplinary including:
• Image guided surgery, focusing on issues like haptic feedback, precision virtual-real image fusion in real time and collaboration of telepresent with on-site present healthcare professionals
• Pre-operative training with 3D printing and digital modelling of tissue/organs in both exploratory and simulation scenarios
• Telepresence through immersive media in medicine
• Remote surgery through telepresence and its challenges, such as connectivity robustness for large data throughputs and security-data protection over diverse networking infrastructures
• Immersive media supported rehabilitation, covering issues like brain computer interface in VR environments for training of rehabilitating patient in robotic prosthetics.
• Medical education: immersive virtual scenarios, Augmented/Virtual/Mixed reality resources for asynchronous learning, AR/MR/VR for lecture support, virtuality-reality spectrum considerations in medicine, and educational theories for medical immersive resource deployment
• Issues of ethics, accountability, and data management policies

We welcome original research studies, and systematic and scoping reviews on the above topics, to create a 360 degree view of emerging connected immersive technologies and their impact in medicine.

Keywords: mixed reality, medical education, 3D printing, surgery, telepresence

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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