暂无摘要。

While metaverse is widely discussed, comprehension of its intricacies remains limited to a select few. Conceptually akin to a three-dimensional embodiment of the Internet, the metaverse facilitates simultaneous existence in both physical and virtual domains. Fundamentally, it embodies a visually immersive virtual environment, striving for authenticity, where individuals engage in real-world activities such as commerce, gaming, social interaction, and leisure pursuits. The global pandemic has accelerated digital innovations across diverse sectors. Beyond strides in telehealth, payment systems, remote monitoring, and secure data exchange, substantial advancements have been achieved in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and blockchain technologies. Nevertheless, the metaverse, in its nascent stage, continues to evolve, harboring significant potential for revolutionizing healthcare. Through integration with the Internet of Medical Devices, quantum computing, and robotics, the metaverse stands poised to redefine healthcare systems, offering enhancements in surgical precision and therapeutic modalities, thus promising profound transformations within the industry.

BC, affecting both women and men, is a complex disease where early diagnosis plays a crucial role in successful treatment and enhances patient survival rates. The Metaverse, a virtual world, may offer new, personalized approaches to diagnosing and treating BC. Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still in its early stages, its rapid advancement indicates potential applications within the healthcare sector, including consolidating patient information in one accessible location. This could provide physicians with more comprehensive insights into disease details. Leveraging the Metaverse could facilitate clinical data analysis and improve the precision of diagnosis, potentially allowing for more tailored treatments for BC patients. However, while this article highlights the possible transformative impacts of virtual technologies on BC treatment, it is important to approach these developments with cautious optimism, recognizing the need for further research and validation to ensure enhanced patient care with greater accuracy and efficiency.

This study investigated the potential of the metaverse in providing psychological support for pediatric and AYA cancer patients, with a focus on those with rare cancers. The research involved ten cancer patients and survivors from four distinct regions in Japan, who participated in metaverse sessions using customizable avatars, facilitating interactions across geographical and temporal barriers. Surveys and qualitative feedback were collected to assess the psychosocial impact of the intervention. The results demonstrated that the metaverse enabled patients to connect with peers, share experiences, and receive emotional support. The anonymity provided by avatars helped reduce appearance-related anxiety and stigma associated with cancer treatment. A case study of a 19-year-old male with spinal Ewing\'s sarcoma highlighted the profound emotional relief fostered by metaverse interactions. The findings suggest that integrating virtual spaces into healthcare models can effectively address the unique needs of pediatric and AYA cancer patients, offering a transformative approach to delivering psychosocial support and fostering a global patient community. This innovative intervention has the potential to revolutionize patient care in the digital age.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the traditional simulation-based medical teaching approach has faced challenges in meeting the requirements of practical emergency medicine education. This study utilized open-source tools and software to develop immersive panoramic videos using virtual reality technology for emergency medical teaching. It aims to investigate the efficacy of this novel teaching methodology. This transformation shifted the focus from physical simulation to virtual simulation in medical education, establishing a metaverse for emergency medical teaching.
METHODS: In accordance with the curriculum guidelines, the instructors produced panoramic videos demonstrating procedures such as spinal injury management, humeral fracture with abdominal wall intestinal tube prolapse, head and chest composite injuries, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and tracheal intubation. Using Unity software, a virtual training application for bronchoscopy was developed and integrated into the PICO4 VR all-in-one device to create a metaverse teaching environment. Fourth-year medical undergraduate students were allocated into either an experimental group (n = 26) or a control group (n = 30) based on student IDs. The experimental group received instruction through the metaverse immersive teaching method, while the control group followed the traditional simulation-based medical teaching approach. Both groups participated in theoretical and practical lessons as usual. Subsequently, all students underwent a four-station Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to assess the effectiveness of the teaching methods based on their performance. Additionally, students in the experimental group provided subjective evaluations to assess their acceptance of the new teaching approach.
RESULTS: Before the training commenced, there were no significant statistical differences in the first aid test scores between the experimental and control groups. Following the training, the experimental group outperformed the control group in the four-station OSCE examination, with all P-values being less than 0.05. The satisfaction rate among the experimental group regarding the new teaching method reached 88.46%, reflecting levels of satisfaction and extreme satisfaction.
CONCLUSIONS: The open-source metaverse immersive teaching method has demonstrated a positive impact on enhancing the emergency skills of medical undergraduate students, with a high level of acceptance among students. In comparison to traditional simulated medical teaching methods, this approach requires less time and space, incurring lower costs, and is deemed worthy of wider adoption.

BACKGROUND: Virtual reality (VR) modules are commonly used for health care training, such as adult advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), due to immersion and engagement. The metaverse differs from current VR serious gaming by enabling shared social connections, while current VR modules focus on computer-based content without social interaction. Educators in the metaverse can foster communication and collaboration during training sessions.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare learning outcomes of VR-based, machine-guided training with educator-guided, VR-based training in the metaverse environment.
METHODS: A total of 62 volunteered students from Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University Vocational School for Anesthesiology were randomly divided into 2 groups of 31 participants each: one group received VR-based training with machine guidance (MG), and the other received VR-based training with educator guidance (EG) in the metaverse. The members of both groups undertook VR-based basic training for ACLS. Afterward, the MG group was trained with a VR-based advanced training module, which provides training with full MG, whereas the EG group attended the VR-based, educator-guided training in the metaverse. The primary outcome of the study was determined by the exam score of the VR-based training module. Descriptive statistics defined continuous variables such as VR exam scores and time spent on machine- or educator-guided training. The correlation between training time and VR exam scores was assessed with the Spearman rank correlation, and nonnormally distributed variables were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical significance was set at P<.05, with analyses executed by MedCalc Statistical Software (version 12.7.7).
RESULTS: Comparing the VR test scores between the MG and EG groups revealed no statistically significant difference. The VR test scores for the EG group had a median of 86 (range 11-100). In contrast, the MG group scores had a median of 66 (range 13-100; P=.08). Regarding the correlation between the duration of machine-guided or educator-guided training and VR-based exam scores, for the MG group, =0.569 and P=.005 were obtained. For the EG group, this correlation was found to be =0.298 and P=.10. While this correlation is statistically significant for the MG group, it is not significant for the EG group. The post hoc power analysis (80%), considering the correlation between the time spent on training and exam scores, supported this finding.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that a well-designed, VR-based serious gaming module with MG could provide comparable learning outcomes to VR training in the metaverse with EG for adult ACLS training. Future research with a larger sample size could explore whether social interaction with educators in a metaverse environment offers added benefits for learners.
BACKGROUND: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06288087; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06288087.

The immersive virtual world platform Second Life (SL) was conceived 25 years ago, when Philip Rosedale founded Linden Lab in 1999 with the intention of developing computing hardware that would allow people to immerse themselves in a virtual world. This initial effort was transformed 4 years later into SL, a universally accessible virtual world centered on the user, with commercial transactions and even its own virtual currency, which fully connects with the concept of the metaverse, recently repopularized after the statements of the chief executive officer of Meta (formerly Facebook) in October 2021. SL is considered the best known virtual environment among higher education professionals. This paper aimed to review medical education in the SL metaverse; its evolution; and its possibilities, limitations, and future perspectives, focusing especially on medical education experiences during undergraduate, residency, and continuing medical education. The concept of the metaverse and virtual worlds was described, making special reference to SL and its conceptual philosophy, historical evolution, and technical aspects and capabilities for higher education. A narrative review of the existing literature was performed, including at the same time a point of view from our teaching team after an uninterrupted practical experience of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the last 13 years with >4000 users and >10 publications on the subject. From an educational point of view, SL has the advantages of being available 24/7 and creating in the student the important feeling of \"being there\" and of copresence. This, together with the reproduction of the 3D world, real-time interaction, and the quality of voice communication, makes the immersive experiences unique, generating engagement and a fluid interrelation of students with each other and with their teachers. Various groups of researchers in medical education have developed experiences during these years, which have shown that courses, seminars, workshops and conferences, problem-based learning experiences, evaluations, teamwork, gamification, medical simulation, and virtual objective structured clinical examinations can be successfully carried out. Acceptance from students and faculty is generally positive, recognizing its usefulness for undergraduate medical education and continuing medical education. In the 25 years since its conception, SL has proven to be a virtual platform that connects with the concept of the metaverse, an interconnected, open, and globally accessible system that all humans can access to socialize or share products for free or using a virtual currency. SL remains active and technologically improved since its creation. It is necessary to continue carrying out educational experiences, outlining the organization, objectives, and content and measuring the actual educational impact to make SL a tool of more universal use.

The virtual reality (VR) is an application in which people can interact each other with their own avatars. Metaverse has already been tested in numerous medical fields and health care as telemedicine, second opinion and remote discussion, but in surgery some fundamental concepts are not yet very widespread. In this study, we want to show our surgery and workshop experiences in the Metaverse to demonstrate the safety and efficiency of this new technology in surgery, in particular for telementoring and remote surgery, combining artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and VR.

Educators are witnessing the unfolding of the era of artificial intelligence, raising the question of how to transfer the benefits of yesterday\'s pedagogy to the future of education. An interactive digital mind map of infectious diseases was developed for second-year medical students (n = 865). Analysis of user engagement showed global distribution with 498 QR scans on a single day. Student responses (n = 79, 9.1% response rate) indicated positive feedback on the resources of Extremely Satisfied (range 65-75%, n = 59-51). The findings of the study support further expansion of MedMicroMaps to cross-platform interfaces with adaptations for diverse audiences within allied health fields.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-024-02047-3.

The growing interest in consumer behavior in the digital environment is leading scholars and companies to focus on consumer behavior and choices on digital platforms, such as the metaverse. On this immersive digital shopping platform, consumer neuroscience provides an optimal opportunity to explore consumers\' emotions and cognitions. In this study, neuroscience techniques (EEG, SC, BVP) were used to compare emotional and cognitive aspects of shopping between metaverse and traditional e-commerce platforms. Participants were asked to purchase the same product once on a metaverse platform (Second Life, SL) and once via an e-commerce website (EC). After each task, questionnaires were administered to measure perceived enjoyment, informativeness, ease of use, cognitive effort, and flow. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine differences between SL and EC at the neurophysiological and self-report levels, as well as between different stages of the purchase process. The results show that SL elicits greater cognitive engagement than EC, but it is also more mentally demanding, with a higher workload and more memorization, and fails to elicit a strong positive emotional response, leading to a poorer shopping experience. These findings provide insights not only for digital-related consumer research but also for companies to improve their metaverse shopping experience. Before investing in the platform or creating a digital retail space, companies should thoroughly analyze it, focusing on how to enhance users\' cognition and emotions, ultimately promoting a better consumer experience. Despite its limitations, this pilot study sheds light on the emotional and cognitive aspects of metaverse shopping and suggests potential for further research with a consumer neuroscience approach in the metaverse field.