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VR is helping to make daunting medical treatments more bearable for patients

For patients undergoing treatments like chemotherapy, VR has shown to be helpful in easing stress and pain.

The 67-year-old Air Force veteran has endured his fair share of pokes over the years, but when it was decided that IV infusions would be the best course of action to treat his iron deficiency, going into that first session felt nerve-wracking. Since the inception of virtual and augmented reality devices, there’s been interest in how the technology could be used in healthcare settings, both to improve patients’ experiences and as a training and enhanced visualization tool for medical practitioners. More research into the subject could shed light on VR’s efficacy in providing relief for patients experiencing higher pain levels, or if other types of content would work better for certain situations.

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