Virtual hospitals and digital doctors: how far are we from the CardioVerse?

Abstract

Digital health and telemedicine flourished during the recent pandemic and modified the traditional physical way of patient–doctor interaction by using digital means and internet. While technology has become integral to cardiovascular medicine and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are bringing modern possibilities, healthcare is arriving closer than ever to the merge of virtual and real worlds. The Metaverse, which is currently trending among various industries, represents the convergence of both worlds into an immersive online virtual interconnected environment where its participants will actively engage with 3D content and interact via digital avatars. Although the introduction of the Metaverse has provoked extensive debate regarding its theoretical applicability in healthcare,1 there are no reports exploring the scientific evidences produced to date and which projects are currently ongoing in the field of healthcare and cardiology. Virtual reality, distant consultations, and telemedicine apps have already been introduced to healthcare with multiple different services. Nonetheless, a main limiting factor for the widespread adoption and diffusion of telemedicine has always been the need of several and different platforms for various medical purposes, making the patient-user often overwhelmed by the numerous divergent interfaces and physicians.2

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