Virtual Reality entrepreneur wins Excellence in Digital Health award

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Staples VR managing director Aliesha Staples won the Excellence in Digital Health award at the 2018 New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards held in Wellington on 12 July.

Staples is a pioneer of virtual reality and augmented reality technology and her Auckland-based company has a medical department working full time on about six products in the digital health space.

“We come from outside the digital health or medical industry and we’re just getting into it so it’s quite exciting to be recognised in this way,” she tells eHealthNews.nz.

Staples VR has built a VR system, designed in collaboration with Auckland District Health Board, that has been trialled at Starship Children's Hospital to help children and their families prepare for hospital procedures.

The technology helps young patients prepare for their hospital visit through virtual preparation experiences in radiation therapy, theatre (pre-operation to recovery), MRI, CT and X-Ray procedures. 

The project aimed to improve the overall hospital experience for child patients, reduce the need for medication to manage anxiety and to help achieve better clinical outcomes.

Another project Staples VR has worked on involves a patient avatar that helps in training to diagnose people with multiple sclerosis. Students ask the avatar questions and refer to MRI scan data and blood test results.

Staples VR has also built an AR MRI scan tool that presents 12 years of patient brain scans as a 3D hologram.

“This is being used in teaching and enables both students and patients to see what’s happening to their brain through different stages of MS,” she says.

“Health is definitely becoming a massive part of our company.” 

Ministry of Health group manager emerging health technology Jon Herries presented the Excellence in Digital Health award on behalf of Health Informatics New Zealand. He said Staples VR’s projects are a really impressive use of technology in health.

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