The world's most innovative top ten AR healthcare companies

By 2018, the AR equipment market is expected to reach $699.8 million. So what are the pioneers of AR augmented reality technology in the medical field?

1. Google Glass is the largest AR platform

In 2013, Google released the AR glasses Google Glass. Google Glass is one of the most popular platforms for AR healthcare solutions. However, due to the high cost (price of up to 1,500 US dollars, about 9000 yuan), the lack of attractiveness of the development platform and the touch of privacy red line, Google Glass, which was highly anticipated, did not go to the mass market. In early 2015, Google announced that it would stop the Google Glass Explorers project and no longer provide hardware sales and software maintenance. In 2014, Shafi Ahmed, a surgeon at the Royal Hospital of the National Health Service (NHS) in London, became the first person to use a pair of Google Glass glasses to play live surgery online.

In addition to applying augmented reality technology to the surgical field, Google Glass can also be used to organize electronic health records. In the past, electronic health records were stored on doctor's personal computer. In the future, these electronic health records will be replaced by the display on Google Glass. In addition to being able to access patient records wirelessly, Google Glass can also be used to scan QR codes on doors, medicines and medical devices, so that patient records can be synchronized correctly and efficiently. In addition to Google Glass, there are many other innovative companies that also aim to incorporate AR into healthcare.

2. Orca Health patients can better describe their symptoms through AR technology

Orca Health is an innovative mobile software company based in Sandy, Utah, USA. Founded in 2010, it has increased patient engagement and better service for patient health education. The company's 12 mobile apps and integration tools educate patients to make better decisions about their health.

EyeDecide is a medical application that uses a camera to simulate the effects of a particular condition on a person's vision. With applications like EyeDecide, doctors can show patients visual analog images of specific diseases. For example, the app can simulate the effects of cataract patients looking at things, helping patients understand and determine their symptoms and medical outcomes.

3 can let autistic patients learn some life skills

Founded in 2013, Brain Power is a Massachusetts-based technology company that develops advanced software based on advanced neuroscience and the latest wearable technologies, especially Google Glass.

The startup built brain science-driven software that transforms wearables into neurological aids for the educational challenges of autism. Their goal is to teach life skills to children and adults with autism spectrum. They developed a unique software suite designed to help children gain the "strongest brain" of social skills, language and positive behavior. The software includes powerful data collection and analysis tools that allow for custom feedback for your child.

4.Medsights Tech can assist surgeons in the operating room

Can you imagine that the X-ray view may become real? Medsights Tech is working hard to make the magic happen.

Medsights Tech has developed a software to test the feasibility of using AR technology for accurate 3D reconstruction of tumors. Complex image reconstruction techniques provide the surgeon with an x-ray view in substantially real-time with no radiation exposure. Its design is intuitive for practitioners in all areas of the medical profession, including technicians, surgeons and other medical professionals. It has also undergone other tests such as skin and subcutaneous, head and neck, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine and other retroperitoneal lesions.

5.AccuVein makes it easier for nurses to find veins

Many people are very afraid of blood tests, mainly because they are afraid that nurses or venous thrombosis patients will not find veins for the first time, but this will be a long and tormenting process.

AccuVein is using AR technology to make life easier for nurses and patients. According to Vinny Luciano, the company's marketing specialist, 40% of IV (intravenous) missed the vein on the first stick, and if the patient is a child or an elderly, the chances of finding a vein will be less and less. AccuVein uses a portable scanner to project the skin and show the veins on the patient to the nurse and doctor. Luciano estimates that the technology has been used in more than 10 million patients, increasing the likelihood of a first discovery of a vein by a factor of 3.5.

6. Microsoft HoloLens direct perspective mannequin

Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic partnered with Microsoft to launch a HoloLens app called Holographic Anatomy to view the human body in a simple and spectacular way. The app provides such an amazing insight into human biology that it won the first place in the immersive virtual reality and augmented reality category at the 2016 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Science Media Awards.

With Microsoft's HoloLens VR headset, application users can see all dynamic holographic models from the muscles to the finest veins. I believe this will revolutionize medical education because students can look at the human body in a 3D way, rather than the usual working methods: black and white pictures and written descriptions in books.

In the video, Microsoft showed how Case Western Reserve University intends to use HoloLens to teach medical courses. With the help of this holographic computer, students will not have to look at the body, but can walk back and forth directly around the anatomical model to understand how bones, muscles and organs work in the human body. In addition, HoloLens can make these through simulation programs. Future doctors practice. Since the subject is not a real patient, the stress they feel is even smaller.

7. EchoPixel's AR technology helps doctors see through the body

The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., to develop diagnostics, surgical plans and image-guided therapeutic applications. With its True 3D system and the use of the corresponding 3D glasses, doctors can view the patient's internal organs from almost any angle, and a complete 3D hologram is available from the screen. The doctor can then zoom in or change these scans as appropriate, or use the 3D printing technique to print the model for further study.

At the same time, this technology is particularly helpful in the treatment of fine treatment, such as radiologists, cardiologists, pediatric cardiologists and interventional neuroradiologists can view patient-specific anatomy in open 3D space, which can greatly help The doctor saves the diagnosis time.

8.Augmedix

The San Francisco-based company aims to leverage the power of Google Glass to make healthcare more patient-centric and less manageable. Augmedix provides technical support for physicians and medical systems, so doctors do not have to check their computers during patient visits, and medical notes are still generated in real time.

As a result, the management burden of medical professionals is alleviated: they can leave the workplace in a timely manner, easily complete administrative management, and diagnose and treat more patients.

9.Atheer cuts into the AR market with a measurable gesture recognition technology

Atheer Lab is a Silicon Valley startup with a software and hardware team of nearly 20 people. The founder and CEO is Soulaiman Itani and the CTO is Allen Yang. The company is considered a pioneer in the Enhanced Interactive Reality (AiR) smart glasses platform and is designed to increase productivity not only in healthcare but also in a wide range of other industries.

The AR solution provided by Atheer is a combination of hardware and software Glasses + OS + APP (SaaS). The hardware part AiR Glasses features precise gestures, voice, head motion recognition and transcription, and supports 2D and 3D blending and personalized image optimization.

AiR Glasses enables users to view key work information in their live view and interact with them using familiar gestures, voice commands and motion tracking. With AiR Enterprise Suite, users can collaborate with remote experts via video calls and get guidance through live image annotations to increase efficiency while focusing on the task at hand. AiR Glasses is currently priced at $4,000.

10.Aira smart glasses help the blind to "see" the world

Aira is a US-based startup that develops smart glasses that help visually impaired patients "see" the world around them in real time. Developed on Google Glass, the team uses deep learning algorithms to describe the user's environment, read text, identify faces or notify obstacles. Using a pair of smart glasses or a mobile phone camera, the system allows Aira “agents” to view what the blind person sees in real time and then talk to them in any situation they are in.