A hybrid virtual environment for training of radiotherapy treatment of cancer.

Roger Phillips; James W. Ward; Pete Bridge; Rob M. Appleyard; Andrew W. Beavis

doi:10.1117/12.650951

27 January 2006 A hybrid virtual environment for training of radiotherapy treatment of cancer

Roger Phillips, James W. Ward, Pete Bridge, Rob M. Appleyard, Andrew W. Beavis

Proceedings Volume 6055, Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XIII; 605508 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.650951
Event: Electronic Imaging 2006, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

There is often insufficient access to patients and linear accelerator treatment rooms to train radiotherapy students. An alternative approach is for some training to use a hybrid virtual environment (HVE) that simulates an actual radiotherapy treatment machine controlled with the actual machine's handheld control pendant. A study of training using such a HVE is presented for "skin apposition" treatment, where the patient couch and radiotherapy equipment are positioned so that the radiation beam strikes the skin perpendicularly. The HVE developed comprises a virtual treatment room with a linear accelerator, modelled from laser scan data and a virtual patient. A genuine linear accelerator control handheld "pendant" provided the user interface to the virtual linear accelerator. A virtual patient, based on the visible human female dataset, complete with rectangular markings for a range of different treatment sites, provided a range of treatment scenarios. Students were trained in groups with the virtual world being displayed stereoscopically on a large work-wall. A study of 42 students was conducted to evaluate learning. 93% of students perceived an improvement in their understanding of this treatment using the HVE and 69% found the control system to be easy to master.

Citation Download Citation

Roger Phillips, James W. Ward, Pete Bridge, Rob M. Appleyard, and Andrew W. Beavis "A hybrid virtual environment for training of radiotherapy treatment of cancer", Proc. SPIE 6055, Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems XIII, 605508 (27 January 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.650951

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