The metaverse and its applications in healthcare

BMC Digital Health is calling for submissions to our Collection, The metaverse and its applications in healthcare. The metaverse combines elements of the internet, virtual reality, and augmented reality. It has potential in healthcare, from training doctors to providing real-time health data. The pandemic also highlighted the importance of online health solutions, for which the metaverse can play a major role. But there are challenges, like ensuring patient information is kept private and that everyone can use this technology equally. For this collection we are inviting papers on the application of the metaverse in healthcare. Topics that will be considered include, but are not limited to, VR/AR in medical training, patient care in the metaverse, telemedicine, digital twins, virtual health communities, collaborative medical research in virtual spaces, AI in the healthcare metaverse, hospital design and ethical considerations.