COOS COUNTY, Ore. – A first of its kind medical advancement is operating in Coos County.

Augmented are bridging the gap between patients and doctors.

“The person who is wearing the headset can see the real world around them and then have this digital information overlayed on top,” said Karen Alexandra, with XR ConnectED. “They can be sent diagrams, documents from doctors who answer their calls in the field.”

The telemedicine conference is conducted via an iPhone app, Mira Origami. Features are navigated through gazing at icons such as the “video call” feature for a first responder to connect with a doctor.

“A doctor sitting at their computer can talk by voice, send text messages, share their screen with them to show them a diagram or list of medications,” said Karen Alexander, with XR Connected.

Alexander, a doctor from Pittsburgh, and local doctor, Ernest Manders, worked on the program.

It’s funded by a $35,000 grant from the Tioga Research Group. Manders said it worked as a gift from Dr. Louis G Argenta, to be put toward helping promote rural medicine.

The headsets are communication tools, skill extenders, used to enhance-or ‘augment’-health care.

“If a physician wants a better look at a certain area the physician can circle it on the screen, and I can take a look at it,” said Jeff Iles, a community paramedic with Bay Cities Ambulance. “If that is an area they want cultured for a wound culture.”

Seven headsets and iPhones were distributed to five agencies including Bay Cities ambulance, Coos Bay Fire Department, Avamir Rehabilitation, the Immediate Care Clinic inside North Bend Medical, and Bay Area Hospital.

“Augmented reality is going to be right there, with me, while I am seeing a patient and while they [doctors] are at their computer,” Iles said.

The pilot program will last one year, with periodic check-ins and data collection to determine how it works and what might need to be changed.

“The entire country is experiencing a shortage of doctors, closure of hospitals, and in some areas, patients have to travel a very long way,” said Alexander.

That is especially felt in rural communities.

Alexander said it will provide a greater quality of care to those who don’t have access.

Alexander and Manders continue their augmented reality headset training workshops throughout the week.

Source: https://kcby.com