About this Research Topic
Virtual reality (VR) is an aspiring, new technology with increasing use in intensive care medicine. VR fully immerses the user into a virtual three-dimensional space and offers great potential to improve critical care medicine for patients, relatives, and health care providers. VR may help to ameliorate anxiety, stress, fear, and pain for the patient. It may assist patients in mobilisation and rehabilitation and can improve communication between all those involved in patient care.
Currently, technical, human, and ethical challenges remain. The adaptation and integration of VR modalities into useful clinical applications that can be used routinely on the intensive care unit is challenging. Users may experience unwanted side effects (so-called "cybersickness") during VR sessions, which may limit its applicability. Furthermore, critically ill patients are one of the most vulnerable patient groups and warrant special ethical considerations if new technologies are to be introduced into their daily care. To date, most studies involving VR in critical care medicine provide only a low level of evidence due to their research design.
The topic editors encourage submission of innovative clinical trials that generate new evidence about possible applications of VR in an intensive care setting for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Currently, technical, human, and ethical challenges remain. The adaptation and integration of VR modalities into useful clinical applications that can be used routinely on the intensive care unit is challenging. Users may experience unwanted side effects (so-called "cybersickness") during VR sessions, which may limit its applicability. Furthermore, critically ill patients are one of the most vulnerable patient groups and warrant special ethical considerations if new technologies are to be introduced into their daily care. To date, most studies involving VR in critical care medicine provide only a low level of evidence due to their research design.
The topic editors encourage submission of innovative clinical trials that generate new evidence about possible applications of VR in an intensive care setting for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Keywords: virtual reality, cardiovascular, intensive care, cardiovascular critical care
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