Piotr Wilczek

CEO of Medical Algorithms | Entrepreneur | Creator of Virtual Reality Solutions for Medicine | Scientist | Medical Professor | Academic Lecturer

 

  1. What does your company do? What is its main profile?

 

Our company specializes in the implementation of cutting-edge technologies, especially virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR), applied in the field of medicine. The main focus of our  activities is comprehensive education at various levels, including both academic education and advanced training for medical professionals, especially resident doctors. We concentrate on creating immersive environments that enable the practice of various medical procedures, ranging from less to more complex. Such environments are not only crucial for those undergoing the education process, but contribute to patient safety by eliminating the risk of potential medical errors.

 

  1. Why, instead of what, and in what operational context (what tasks, designs, etc.) did you choose VR/AR?

 

In the field of medical education, we should operate with spatial images. Previous solutions have relied on two-dimensional images, such as graphics or flat anatomical images accompanied by textual descriptions. In this traditional approach, spatial information is lost, which is crucial for accurately understanding the relationships between anatomical structures. This is significant because sometimes it is challenging to visualize how structures are arranged in relation to each other based on a flat image or description alone. This lack of spatial context has a considerable impact on medical practice, which is why we aim to provide future doctors and medical personnel with tools that facilitate understanding these spatial relationships. Therefore, we utilize VR technology, enabling a three-dimensional representation of objects.

 

Furthermore, the use of VR/AR not only facilitates knowledge acquisition but also enhances the learning process. Studies show that such an interactive learning approach not only accelerates the education process but also ensures better retention of acquired knowledge.

 

  1. How long have you been using VR/AR tools and/or software? 

 

I think it was a period of about 3-4 years, more or less. This is the time when we started to exploit this technology, mainly in the area of cardiology and cardiac surgery. We plan to expand the use of our solutions to other medical specializations.

 

  1. How many professionals in your team understand VR/AR content development? What is the typical professional background and education of these professionals?

 

In terms of understanding, everyone on the team comprehends the essence of utilizing VR technology. Importantly, we know how to look at VR technology in a content-oriented manner. VR tools themselves are fascinating, but the content we place within them is of crucial significance to us. Therefore, each of us has a full understanding of the rationale behind the use of VR tools, and we treat them as viable tools that we can effectively use to create new methods of presenting medical knowledge.

 

Since VR technology itself has entered the medical field relatively recently, the background and experience in the team varies. It is difficult to expect the team to be made up of specialists with a decade of experience, since for many years VR was mainly the domain of gaming. The devices available were not as widespread, and if they were accessible, they often did not offer sufficiently good quality. Alternatively, devices with good quality had limited availability, primarily due to cost considerations. The average experience within the team is 5-6 years, starting from the first encounter with VR technology.

 

In our industry, not only experience is important, but also the interdisciplinarity of the team. Individuals with medical backgrounds, such as doctors or those working within the medical field, are responsible for content creation. Simultaneously, the technology group develops applications in accordance with all the rules not only of VR technology itself, but also rules related to the UX-approach.

 

  1. Which VR/AR hardware tools do they use? Which ones do they consider good/bad and why? 

 

When it comes to VR technology, our capabilities are somewhat limited. Initially, we mainly used the HoloLens platform, which was the first to begin a strong implementation of AR technology in various areas. It had innovative solutions that allowed users to navigate through the application without using controllers. Instead, the user used their own hands and gestures for control. However, the platform has two significant limitations. The first is the price limitation, for the reason that HoloLens is still a rather expensive technology and therefore not very accessible. If we want VR/AR technology to become widespread in medical education institutions and hospitals, we need to think about making the hardware itself affordable. The second issue is the quality of the images that are obtained. HoloLens does not meet expectations in every case, especially if we want to accurately reflect the structure or topography of an object.

 

For this reason, we have been primarily working on tools on the Oculus platform for some time. Oculus seems to be an optimal platform, especially for new AR solutions, interaction with other users, or control methods. It has introduced technologies that heavily restrict the use of controllers. This is important because natural control methods, such as hand gestures, are more intuitive for users. While using controllers may be just as intuitive for those familiar with gaming, it’s important to remember that not all users of our solutions have that experience.

 

An interesting alternative to Oculus could be Apple’s VR solution, which is entering the market with its VR goggles. However, experiences with them are still quite limited.

 

  1. Which VR/AR software tools do they use? Which ones do they consider good/bad and why? 

 

My opinion, based on the opinion of those on our team who are more technologically oriented, is that for VR/AR purposes the engines offered by NVIDIA are the best. Our opinion coincides with the decisions of many other companies in the industry that are implementing solutions in the VR/AR area and also choose these specific engines.

 

  1. In general, are there any aspects of VR/AR use that are challenging for the company and/or its users? 

 

It is certainly a major challenge to make the environment we present a maximally immersive environment, that is, one that fully engages the user. The degree of this immersiveness depends on how we create this environment. We can create it using standard computer graphics methods, but we must remember that it will always be some approximations.

 

Another challenge is to develop a realistic environment that enables interactions, especially concerning medical procedures performed by multiple individuals simultaneously, such as surgeries. We aim to make the environment reflect the real conditions of the operating room, allowing the user to practice the procedure and work with the team at the same time.

 

In the area of medical education, especially in surgical procedures, the difficulty is also to develop an optimal method for assessing and verifying skills. Such a method should not only support the user himself, as it would suggest what and how to improve. It is equally important to provide the evaluating party with authoritative information about training progress. In the traditional education system, a young doctor at the beginning of his career chooses a specialty, such as a surgical specialty, for which he may find that he has no aptitude. Therefore, it would be good to have tools to help identify talents or areas for improvement as early as the specialty selection stage. “I have that talent, or I don’t.” Or “I lack talent, so I should work on specific aspects.” Certainly, a significant challenge is the objectivity of the assessment process.

 

  1. Based on your experience so far, what benefits have you gained from using VR/AR?

 

Our experiences so far have confirmed the initial assumptions. Firstly, we’ve noticed that in the area we specialize in, the learning process becomes faster, and memorizing structures is easier compared to traditional teaching methods. Additionally, knowledge acquired through VR/AR is better retained, resulting in increased confidence among users. These are the main benefits that we can currently highlight.

 

  1. Why would you recommend others/companies to use VR/AR tools? 

 

First and foremost, due to the fact I mentioned earlier, that the world around us is a spatial world. Additionally, to gain a complete picture of reality, we need unrestricted access to this world. For example, the operating room is often an environment with limited access for medical students, or even for doctors. Resident doctors, learning through performing procedures, encounter difficulties in accessing diverse or rare cases. There are procedures that even an experienced doctor may perform only a few times in their career, significantly limiting the acquisition of experience and making it even more challenging to pass on that knowledge to others. The use of VR/AR technology allows for unlimited experience through virtual/augmented reality exploration.

 

The second crucial aspect is the standardization of teaching methods. Medical students are educated at different universities and later move to different centers where the same medical procedures may differ in execution. By implementing a standardized teaching program applicable across various institutions, we can assume that a graduate from Zabrze will be well-versed in procedures used at Mayo Clinic or any other place in the world. This is one of the key reasons why I would recommend others to adopt methods based on VR/AR technology.

 

  1. How can VR/AR be made user-friendly? Have there been concrete attempts to do so? 

 

So far, we have not made modifications at the hardware level because we do not produce our own headsets. We rely on ready-made solutions, for which there are still several strategies to make VR/AR user-friendly. One of them is minimizing the use of controllers in created applications. The implementation of haptic technology would allow for experiencing tactile sensations in the virtual environment. Although achieving haptics is challenging, our company aims to provide it as part of hardware development.

 

Working on the first virtual heart model on the HoloLens platform and then on Oculus, we leveraged our prior experiences to enhance image quality and ensure a more comprehensive representation of anatomy. For the second model, we added over 100 anatomical points, allowing for a more accurate reflection of the subtleties of heart anatomy.

 

Our improvement efforts also aimed at optimizing the application in terms of the user interface. We wanted to create a user interface that would be intuitive and user-friendly. We applied classic principles, limiting the number of windows and buttons to the essential minimum, resulting in a clear and simple interface. When the goal is education in a specific area, such as anatomy or procedural training, we cannot afford a situation where the user spends time and resources getting acquainted with the application itself. We strive for maximum intuitiveness in terms of application usability.

 

 

  1. Do you have experiences on whether learning to use/use VR/AR is more challenging for people with low digital literacy? Have you experienced differences in learning to use VR/AR depending on the gender or age of the user?

 

Regarding gender differences, from our experiences, we do not notice any significant distinctions. Age certainly plays a role, although it is not a critical factor. The younger generation, which grew up with these technologies, tends to be more comfortable using VR/AR, making the use of tools appear easier for younger individuals. On the other hand, older individuals may feel a natural unease associated with new technology, fearing they might do something wrong and lead to improper application functioning or even damage the device itself. In such cases, to alleviate potential concerns, introducing an additional element to the application in the form of a simple tutorial can be beneficial.

 

Our experiences indicate that regardless of age, gender, or previous experiences, using VR/AR is very intuitive. Users quickly grasp basic functions. Someone who has prior VR experience doesn’t need an explanation on how to use controllers or where to find basic buttons in the application. We observe that any differences in such basic operations quickly level out. Just like with smartphones, some people initially had reservations about smartphones, “because it’s something different,” “because suddenly there are many windows appearing,” ” because we actually have a fairly advanced computer in our pocket.” Initial concerns typically subside quickly, and users grasp basic functions in a relatively short time.