Recent Advances in a Medical Domain Metaverse: Status, Challenges, and Perspective

The Meta-verse is the new, innovative platform in which is being investigated by every industry. The thought of simulating reality in a digital platform was never inconceivable but seemed distant. Now, it is taking over every industry like wildfire and the possibilities seem endless. Recently, the healthcare industry is looking into implementing the qualities of the metaverse within specialties and practices of medical professionals. This space encompasses a variety of factors such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and secured spaces for communication and processes. The healthcare industry has been looking into methods to increase patient experience and broadening the accessibility of medical care. Although the concept of the metaverse is not new, the uses are still unexplored and has to many unknowns. In an industry where patient data is critical and remains at the upmost level of privacy, it is unsure that it will remain with its integrity still intact. This paper is aiming to explore the use of the meta-verse in the healthcare industry along with the current status, challenges, and perspective of applicable technology and practices. To be more specific, we focused on the outpatient telemedicine practice experience using body sensor networks and the challenges of maintaining privacy in a healthcare metaverse space.