Virtual Reality in Medical Ultrasound

The assignment analyzes the emerging trend of integrating virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into medical imaging, particularly ultrasound. It examines the benefits of such integration for understanding complex diseases and their impact on various body parts. The report highlights ABC company's initiative to develop a VR-enabled ultrasound device initially for research purposes, with plans for market innovation based on demand.

DIGITAL INNOVATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................1
Short term strategy to launch the MVP.......................................................................................1
Long term strategy to iterate the product with additional features.............................................3
Recommendations and Conclusion.............................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
There are many diseases that are not diagnosed with the present imaging systems (Burns,
2012). Use of Virtual reality and Augmented reality helps in solving this problem. ABC is
making an ultrasound device that uses these technology for diagnosing the ulcer and
abnormalities in the surface of the internal abdomen. This innovation is one of its kind. There
had been several researches that are going on in the use of VR and AR in the medical sciences.
So for this purpose ABC is launching its MVP at first and then plans to make innovations as per
the demand of the market and medical sciences.
TASK 3
Short term strategy to launch the MVP
For any company it is necessary to set short term goals it helps the firm in growing in a
continuous time frame (Fichman, Dos Santos and Zheng, 2014). This short term strategy
includes launching its minimum viable product and then validating it. There are certain elements
of strategy they are as follows:
Mission: To develop product that are commercially viable by using best of technology in the
industry and innovating it on regular intervals.
Vision: To become the best health care organisation in the locality by serving patients with the
most innovative technologies and work for the healthy society.
Objectives
 To develop systems the will provide more clear image to the doctors about patients inner
body.
 To innovate best practices in the medical imaging system that is the demand of the future
medical industry.
 To diagnose every kind of disease that produces alterations top the human body.
 To develop ultrasonic device that can be used for the internal check ups using virtual or
augmented reality.
Strategy: Every company must have a specific strategy so that they can understand in which
path they have to move (Furht, 2011). There are three kind of strategy that is being used for the
ABC new products in the short terms so as to make business a success. They are as follows:
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 Pre selling: It is the process in which product is produced in front of the people using the
models, prototype or video. In this process product details and its benefits have been
discussed with the public. This is helpful in taking the review of the market. ABC will
present a video in front of the media so that curiosity in the market can be created
acknowledged by the prototype of the ultrasonic device. They can also upload it on Kick
starter so that they could get funding fro investors.
 Sell product before improving it: Before making more innovations to the product first
sell the product with less features. This will help to understand what market demand by
evaluating the feedbacks received from the customers (Lee, Lee and Schniederjans,
2011). This also helps in providing some of the cash benefits and understanding that if
there really such market existing or not. ABC will launch the new kind of ultrasonic
devices in the next quarter with a feature of having 3d image of the selected body parts.
 Software as a plug-in: Before making innovation this strategy suggests that a software
version of it need to be set up in the existing system (.McGinnis, Powers and Grossmann,
2011). ABC is planning for the software version of it on chrome, iOS etc. so as to check
its popularity.
Tactics
 Clearly define the target: Before presenting the original model in the market it is
important to define the target that ABC wants to achieve from the desired product.
 Design for scale: Targets of ABC needs to reach to masses for that effective marketing
needs to done.
 Disrupt and differentiate: Always provide differentiation so that customers gets
attracted towards ABC product. This product of ABC is itself differentiated from the
market as it is using virtual reality as an imaging technique.
 Effective pricing: ABC needs to make this ultrasound system at minimum cost this helps
company in competing with its competitors as well as ensuring that it delivers maximum
profit.
 Being a problem solver: This is one of the biggest tactic that any MVP must be having
as ABC is developing a product that solves many problems related to imaging.
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Cases/ Experiments to validate
ABC is experimenting on the technology that will help in finding out the ulcer inside the
stomach. In this experiment there are certain devices that are used such as virtual reality
headsets, computers cameras.
There are several cases where people affected from Anisotropy in Viscoelastic properties
of Intra-abdominal soft tissues have not been diagnosed so as to do it properly there are
experiments that are going on in the medical sciences to develop an system that makes use of
Virtual reality imaging. This provides a detailed view of anisotropy in the lower abdominal issue.
A UK firm named as Ultrahaptics has developed a method of giving hap-tic feedback for
the holographic imagery by using ultrasonic technology (Seth, Vance and Oliver, 2011). This
system is developed by its developers so that it can deliver different haptic feedback and
virtually tactile shapes through ultrasonic waves by pulsing the feedback of the ultrasonic waves
or changing their modulation frequency.
Cost benefit analysis
This product is being developed at the minimum cost so as to get the maximum profit out
of it. ABC is making it available for the healthcare centres that do not have proper imaging
system. It cost is estimated to be around 2000 $. The benefit to cost ratio is estimated to be
approx 1.8 to 3.0. It provides profits in all worst scenarios as experimented through study of
different cases. At first only the research model of it will be available for the market and centres
of ABC healthcare services. At later stage the business model of it will be presented at that cost
that will be more feasible for many small health care organisations. Through this model
company expects to gain more monetary benefits.
Long term strategy to iterate the product with additional features
In order to make the product more successful it is important to innovate it as per the
demand of the market that too on the regular intervals. These additional features increases the
scope of the product usability and the areas in which it can provide benefits to the users (Topol,
and Hill, 2012). There must be a long term strategy that needs to be developed so as to make
product innovations on regular intervals. Same products with the extended versions of it having
additional features always beneficial for the organisations as only additional costing is done on
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the added features rest technology is the old one. These innovations will be done on the business
model.
Mission: To innovate product that will help to satisfy consumer demands on the longer intervals
of time.
Vision: To help patients in solving there problem by providing doctors with the best possible
equipments for imaging and ensuring healthy lives for the patients.
Objectives
 To use Augmented reality concept for the surface level imaging.
 To use virtual reality concept for diagnosing the problem in details by innovating the
headsets and using Facebook's Oculus for making it look more real and hence imaginary
surgeries could be done.
 Making innovations in the field of medical sciences that focuses on the different body
parts other then the abdominal areas.
Strategy
 pre selling: Make effective advertisements and marketing tools so as to reach to larger
set of user so that citing innovations more number of user gets attracted to the customers
and pre sell could be increased.
 Use software plug in: ABC can make software that illustrates the benefits of innovations
and attach it many platforms such as google chrome, iOS etc.
 First taking the demand of the market and then developing the product in a decisive way.
Tactic
 Differentiating every time: new innovation must incorporate a feeling in the minds of
user that this is different from the previous product for what they can pay for. This helps
in generating more profits.
 Set a market relevant target: Company must do a market research before setting its
goals as the target must satisfy the needs of consumers.
 Marginal cost shifts: Costing of the innovated product must not be very high as
compared to the previous product or it must be according to additional feature that is
being added to it.
 Solve larger problems: These innovated products must solve the greater range of
problems that too the problems that it is encountering must be genuine. Additional
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features which does not have significant impact on the science do not provide monetary
benefits.
 Use of researches that are going on in the world so as to take it as help or say as a
guideline.
 Make use of Oculus headsets to understand the complexities of system itself.
Experiments to validations
There had been many experiments like the experiment on the pressure technology for
imaging and the experiments that uses higher frequency ultrasonic waves so as to get more clear
picture of the internal abdomen.
Cost benefits analysis
Continuous innovations are always beneficial for the company as the product seems to
solve grater set of problems. So more people attracts towards the product. It is evaluated that
benefit to cost will be increasing by 1.7 to 3.0 with every innovation made. The innovation
research cost is estimated to around 200$ per feature development. These innovations promises
to provide monetary benefits to ABC on the longer run.
Roadmap for product innovation
For any innovation plan to succeed it is important to have to have a clear blue print for
the whole product innovation cycle. These blueprints are also known as Road maps that provides
path for innovative product development (Yoo and et. al., 2012) . Or it can be considered as the
management's view of how things will be achieved. Road map is as follows:
 Goals and objectives: To develop an ultrasound innovative product that increases the
diagnosing technology and for that it takes the use of virtual reality and augmented reality
concept.
 Areas where it will effect: Company is developing the imaging technique that uses
ultrasonic waves to diagnose problems related to lower abdomen and for the patients
whose disease could not be found out by traditional diagnosis.
 Attack plan: ABC is going to launch this product all alone with the help of the investors
it has. Whenever it will complete the experiment it will start to advertise and make it
available for the users.
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 Deployment: It refers to the staffing needs at every levels. There will be requirement of
staffs for each individual activity in the product development process. For innovative
product development need of staffs that will have excellent research skills is necessary.
 Initiatives: There are some initiatives that that are taken for this process such as
developing and implementing technology or platforms that will be suitable for product
manufacturing. Availability of Virtual and Augmented reality needs to be ensured and the
help of company that works on Virtual reality headsets like Facebook Oculus.
 Setting time lines: To achieve the maximum profit products are developed within the
time limit and for that proper scheduling needs to be done. This time limit is also for
integrating the virtual as well as augmented reality in the medical sciences.
 Pre advertisements: Before one month of product launch time advertisements through
media briefings will be started. Use of electronic and traditional media for the
advertisements through pictures and promotional videos.
Recommendations and Conclusion
From the above based report it can be can be concluded that Virtual or augmented reality
will be going to be the future imaging techniques in the medical sciences so there is need of
developing such kinds of ultrasound devices that helps to understand the problems related to
different body parts. ABC company is designing such a device. At the previous stage they are
developing it only for the research purpose and then plans to innovate it accordingly as per the
demand of the market. There are large benefits associated with it as it will help to understand the
complexity of various diseases and its impact on body parts.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Burns, L.R. ed., 2012. The business of healthcare innovation. Cambridge University Press.
Fichman, R.G., Dos Santos, B.L. and Zheng, Z.E., 2014. Digital innovation as a fundamental and
powerful concept in the information Systems curriculum. MIS quarterly, 38(2).
Furht, B. ed., 2011. Handbook of augmented reality. Springer Science & Business Media.
Lee, S.M., Lee, D. and Schniederjans, M.J., 2011. Supply chain innovation and organizational
performance in the healthcare industry. International Journal of Operations &
Production Management. 31(11). pp. 1193-1214.
McGinnis, J.M., Powers, B. and Grossmann, C. eds., 2011. Digital infrastructure for the learning
health system: the foundation for continuous improvement in health and health care:
workshop series summary. National Academies Press.
Seth, A., Vance, J.M. and Oliver, J.H., 2011. Virtual reality for assembly methods prototyping: a
review. Virtual reality. 15(1). pp. 5-20.
Topol, E.J. and Hill, D., 2012. The creative destruction of medicine: How the digital revolution
will create better health care (p. 2). New York: basic books.
Yoo, Y., and et. al., 2012. Organizing for innovation in the digitized world. Organization Science.
23(5). pp. 1398-1408.
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