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. 2024 Jun 26;12(13):1266.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare12131266.

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

Guangxi Zuo  1 , Ruoyu Wang  2 , Cheng Wan  3 , Zhe Zhang  4 , Shaochong Zhang  4 , Weihua Yang  4
Affiliations

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

Guangxi Zuo et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Virtual 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.

Methods: Citation 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.

Results: A 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".

Conclusion: The 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.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; medicine; research hotspots; trends; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A frame flow diagram showing the specific selection criteria and bibliometric analysis steps for the study of VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The annual number of publications on VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Collaboration of countries or regions that contributed to publications on VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023. Section 3.1.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cooperation of institutions that contributed to publications on VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Category-based clusters of publications on VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023. The symbol means Cluster.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Keywords with the strongest citation bursts for publications on VR in medicine between 2012 and 2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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