Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38998801›Full record

ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2024

Unveiling the Evolution of Virtual Reality in Medicine: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Hotspots and Trends over the Past 12 Years.

Guangxi Zuo, Ruoyu Wang, Cheng Wan, Zhe Zhang, Shaochong Zhang, Weihua Yang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. UnitedXR Europe 2025: Aligning Health Care Extended Reality.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026
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  7. Review
  8. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Guangxi ZuoShanghai National Clinical Research Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of Chinese Health Ministry, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.ORCID 0009-0005-1826-9520
Ruoyu WangDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
Cheng WanCollege of Electronic Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.
Zhe ZhangShenzhen Eye Institute, Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen 518040, China.
Shaochong ZhangShenzhen Eye Institute, Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen 518040, China.
Weihua YangShenzhen Eye Institute, Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Jinan University, Shenzhen 518040, China.ORCID 0000-0002-7629-0193

Funding

Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzen Municipality SZSM202311012
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVirtual reality (VR), widely used in the medical field, may affect future medical training and treatment. Therefore, this study examined VR's potential uses and research directions in medicine.

methodsCitation data were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection database (WoSCC) to evaluate VR in medicine in articles published between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2023. These data were analyzed using CiteSpace 6.2. R2 software. Present limitations and future opportunities were summarized based on the data.

resultsA total of 2143 related publications from 86 countries and regions were analyzed. The country with the highest number of publications is the USA, with 461 articles. The University of London has the most publications among institutions, with 43 articles. The burst keywords represent the research frontier from 2020 to 2023, such as "task analysis", "deep learning", and "machine learning".

conclusionThe number of publications on VR applications in the medical field has been steadily increasing year by year. The USA is the leading country in this area, while the University of London stands out as the most published, and most influential institution. Currently, there is a strong focus on integrating VR and AI to address complex issues such as medical education and training, rehabilitation, and surgical navigation. Looking ahead, the future trend involves integrating VR, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) with the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSNs), big data analysis (BDA), and cloud computing (CC) technologies to develop intelligent healthcare systems within hospitals or medical centers.

Indexed as

bibliometric analysismedicineresearch hotspotstrendsvirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID38998801
PMCPMC11241350

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.