OBJECTIVE: In 2021, metaverse became a buzzword. The metaverse is a digital virtual world in which people can live as a digital virtual identity. In the metaverse, people can participate in making rules and create their own worlds. As plastic surgeons in the new era, we have been thinking about the application of the metaverse in plastic surgery. Therefore, we carried out this study to systematically review the current published articles on the application of metaverse in medicine, so as to provide a reference for the rational and effective application of metaverse by plastic surgeons in the future.
METHODS: The researchers searched the Wanfang, Weipu, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and the Embase database. The retrieval time was set from the database establishment to April 2022. All studies on the use of the metaverse in medicine were included in our study.
RESULTS: A total of 4 studies were included in this study. According to our study, the metaverse is mostly used for skill training for residents and medical students. The metaverse was used for the first time to train doctors in lung cancer surgery at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea. Augmented reality in the metaverse has also been used to aid surgery and to address a variety of medical and mental health problems for patients.
CONCLUSION: At present, the application of metaverse is still in the preliminary stage of exploration, and the practical effect of metaverse on plastic surgery needs to be observed and evaluated. Although there are still many problems in the metaverse, the new medical model of plastic surgery supported by the metaverse is worth looking forward to.
