What are the best VR simulation software tools for medical training and education?

There are many apps for the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, I tried a lot of them on the Quest 3, and one or two on the Vision Pro. 1. On Quest: Human Anatomy VR (and check the "similar apps" category on the Meta Store). 2. On Apple Vision Pro: Siemens Healthineers (and also check the similar / recommended category on AppStore).

VR surgical simulation covers such a wide spectrum of interventions that it would be difficult to select and develop a procedure that could be used and commercialized globally. On the other hand, surgical protocols vary, not only between countries, but also from hospital to hospital, not to mention that the equipment and instruments may also be different. This is why this type of trainings, as a general rule, are usually developed for each need and then become part of a surgical library that is adjusted to the specific needs of those professionals or centers. However, there is no doubt that this type of training has an enormous benefit for people who are trained in simulated and safe environments such as those that can be recreated with VR.

One of the major advantages of using virtual reality for the training of emergency situations in medicine is the chance to practice and apply your knowledge in a simulated and safe environment, eliminating real risks for patients. A virtual simulation platform that allows to recreate a variety of clinical cases, so that students can train their skills in different situations, to later debrief each of the interventions, rate each one and evaluate it as a team, would be a very useful solution in this field. The advantage of developing an experience like this in VR is that, as clinical cases are included in the simulation, the technical complexity of the development decreases, since many assets can be reused, both coding and 3D objects.

While I agree that haptic devices add an appealing component to VR experiences and make simulations more realistic, I also believe that the widespread notion of getting closer to reality (through realism and haptic sensation) isn’t always compatible with developing profitable experiences. When we invest too much effort in making graphics and haptics more realistic, development costs escalate significantly. In the realm of medical simulation in VR, profitability lies in enabling process training rather than focusing solely on specific skills. For skill training, there are more traditional techniques that can achieve the same goal without necessarily pursuing the “wow” effect, which sometimes adds little value.

Not an expert in clinical skills, but I would like to highlight one significant advantage of VR simulations, which is the integration of haptic feedback to enhance the sense of realism by providing tactile sensations. This feedback enables users to develop a more intuitive understanding of the force and precision needed for tasks such as drawing blood or administering injections. By doing so, healthcare workers can not only refine their techniques but also build the confidence necessary for delivering optimal care to real patients.