Architects and real estate agents use virtual reality to show customers their homes, Yoshitaka Amano is using it to create a virtual museum where you can admire his works and several doctors are using it for particular therapies that treat post-traumatic stress disorders.
Videogames and metaverses aside, the very useful applications of VR seem to be potentially infinite, and to demonstrate this fantastic potential comes yet another and very precious use concerning the theme of tumors.
Studying tumors with a viewer
Tumors are three-dimensional phenomena, but so far we have used 2D images to scan and study them, but with the advancement of virtual reality all of that is about to change. We can say it: virtual reality software has become the new unlikely tool of cancer research. You read that right, thanks to a tool created mainly for recreational purposes, researchers are finding new ways to better study tumors.
In an effort to help doctors better understand how to treat cancer, several game designers and researchers have joined forces at the University of Cambridge in England to transform data from a spreadsheet into three-dimensional imageshighly detailed, of cancer cells: observable from any angle thanks to the digital space and the virtual maneuvers offered by this peculiar technology.
Tumors are very complex growths, which makes oncological surgery particularly difficult and dangerous for the patient. However, using VR, doctors may be able to explore highly detailed, digital versions of the tumor of a patient, instead of relying on a graph or a simple x-ray of the disease.
Virtual reality will change medicine forever
Thanks to virtual reality technology, tumors can be visualized as a “colored matrix of dots”. There are different types of cancer cells and the use of distinct colors allow doctors to distinguish the various types of tissue present in the analyzed area. Having a new perspective and the ability to interact with the model, doctors may be able to make far more accurate diagnoses and recommend a more accurate course of care than current, much more limited, standard methods.
Funding for the program comes from two major cancer charities, Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute based in the United States, all carried out through their funding platform: the Cancer Grand Challenges.
“It’s much easier to notice the differences, features and quirks when you’re actually inside the thing than looking at a spreadsheet or a photograph. You can see how a certain type of cell can be found next to a blood vessel or milk ductand this could be important for the future prognosis of a patient”, are the words released by Own Harris to the microphones of ITV News, the main game designer of the IMAMT Laboratory of the University of Cambridge.
Game designers and scientists, who are behind the ambitious project
Owen Harris is a Game Designer, VR designer and “lover of everything that can be played””. When not at DEEP, he designs games and VR experiences for Cambridge University, Cancer Research UK, Gambrinous and others. She has taught Game Design at DIT and has spoken throughout Ireland and Europe about games, virtual reality and the intersection of health and play experiences. He is the founder of Imirt, an organization set up to improve the quality and visibility of Irish games, and runs the local community game design event dubLUDO. In his bio he states that his mission is to raise awareness of the value of play in everyday life.
Almost as happens in Isaac Asimov’s Hallucinatory Journey, with the help of a VR viewer, doctors and researchers will essentially be able to enter the skins and tumors of patients, making diagnosis easier by assessing more precisely the severity and origin of the cancer cells. The aim of the tool is to provide a better view of the tumor masses, allowing physicians and surgeons a new and meticulous approach like never before.
The VR tool, as mentioned above, was created with valuable funding from Cancer Grand Challenges, a global funding platform co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute, while the scientists and game designers who worked and collaborated on the ambitious project they all come from Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.