Digitalisation of the healthcare sector promises to revolutionise patient healthcare globally. From the different technologies, virtual tools including artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual, and augmented reality, to name but a few, are providing significant benefits to patients and the pharmaceutical sector alike, ranging from improving access to clinicians and medicines, as well as improving real-time diagnoses and treatments. Indeed, it is envisioned that such technologies will communicate together in real-time, as well as with their physical counterparts, to create a large-scale, cyber healthcare system. Despite the significant benefits that virtual-based digital health technologies can bring to patient care, a number of challenges still remain, ranging from data security to acceptance within the healthcare sector. This review provides a timely account of the benefits and challenges of virtual health interventions, as well an outlook on how such technologies can be transitioned from research-focused towards real-world healthcare and pharmaceutical applications to transform treatment pathways for patients worldwide.

医疗保健行业的数字化有望在全球范围内彻底改变患者医疗保健。从不同的技术来看，包括人工智能、区块链、虚拟和增强现实在内的虚拟工具正在为患者和制药行业等提供显着的好处，包括改善对临床医生和药物的获取，以及改善实时诊断和治疗。事实上，预计这些技术将实时通信，以及与其物理对应物，以创建一个大规模的网络医疗保健系统。尽管基于虚拟的数字健康技术可以为患者护理带来巨大的好处，但仍然存在许多挑战，从数据安全到医疗保健行业的接受度。