The Multidomain Metaverse Cancer Care Digital Platform: A Development and Usability Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND As the cancer treatment methods have diversified and the importance of self-management, which lowers the dependence rate on direct hospital visits, has increased, effective cancer care education and management for health professionals and patients have become necessary. The metaverse is in the spotlight as a means of digital health that allows users to engage in cancer care education and management beyond physical constraints. However, it is difficult to find a multipurpose medical metaverse that can not only be utilized in the field, but also complements the current cancer care. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to develop an integrated metaverse cancer care platform, Dr. Meta, and examine its usability. METHODS We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional survey between November and December 2021. A descriptive analysis was performed to examine the users’ experiences with Dr. Meta. In addition, a supplementary open-ended question was used to ask the users about their suggestions and improvements regarding this platform. RESULTS Overall, 70 Korean participants’ (19 males and 51 females) responses were analyzed. Over half of them were satisfied with using Dr. Meta (37/70, 53.9%); they responded that it was an interesting and immersive platform (50/70, 71.5%). However, less than half of the participants perceived no discomfort in using Dr. Meta (34/70, 48.5%), and no difficulty in wearing and operating its device (30/70, 42.8%). Further, more than half of the participants reported that Dr. Meta would be helpful in non-face-to-face and non-contact services (50/70, 71.5%). In addition, more than half of them wanted to continue using this platform in the future (41/70, 58.6%), and to recommend it to others around them (42/70, 60.0%). CONCLUSIONS We developed a multidomain metaverse cancer care platform that can support both health professionals and patients in non-face-to-face cancer care. The platform was uniquely disseminated and implemented for multiple regional hospitals and showed the potential to perform successful cancer care.