Speaker
Description
Objective: Patient positioning is typically a time-consuming and labor-intensive step in the radiotherapy process. This challenge persists in the context of upright radiotherapy. The project aims to develop an immersive virtual reality (VR) system designed to enhance the spatial self-positioning ability of breast cancer patients undergoing upright radiotherapy, improve the accuracy and reproducibility of treatment positioning, and optimize the patient care experience.
Methods: Firstly, conduct a scoping review to clarify the existing applications of VR in radiotherapy and patient preparation, identify gaps in current methods and practices, and establish a theoretical foundation. Secondly, engage stakeholders (including patients, therapists, and industry experts) in semi-structured co-design workshops to gather diverse perspectives, define and quantify the core concepts and interactive functions of the VR system, and explore evaluation benchmarks for the post-development phase. In addition, design and develop the system's functional modules, ensuring the inclusion of core capabilities such as real-time patient pose estimation and guided pose correction. Once the system is fully functional, organize clinical simulation sessions and user testing to evaluate its feasibility in facilitating patient preparation, enhancing patients' sense of control, and improving treatment adherence.
Results: A total of 805 studies were imported for screening, with 77 ultimately included in the scoping review. Data extraction has been completed, and the evidence synthesis is ongoing to identify common themes and patterns. A total of 25 participants took part in the stakeholder engagement. 5 workshops were conducted with radiation therapists in France (n = 14). To mitigate potential language barriers affecting communication, the study employed a visual elicitation method: participants were invited to express their ideas through drawings based on 10 pre-set questions, thereby reducing reliance on verbal communication. Two researchers independently coded the data and conducted an inductive thematic analysis, subsequently comparing their findings and reaching a consensus through discussion. 4 workshops were held with patients (n = 8) and one with industry experts (n = 3) in the UK. These workshops primarily utilized an interview and discussion format; participants' contributions were audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed into text. The thematic analysis of the UK workshop data is ongoing.
Outlook & Discussion: Preliminary work towards the scoping review and the workshops indicates a clear gap in both methodology and clinical experience regarding self-positioning training for breast cancer patients undergoing upright radiotherapy; stakeholders show positive expectations toward the use of VR for patient positioning training.
Summary
This project aims to develop an immersive virtual reality (VR) system to assist breast cancer patients with self-positioning during upright radiotherapy, thereby enhancing positioning accuracy and reproducibility, increasing patient autonomy, and improving the treatment experience. The research team conducted a scoping review and co-design workshops involving radiation therapists, patients, and industry experts to identify limitations in current methods and guide the development of the VR system. To date, the scoping review has included 77 studies, and 25 stakeholders have participated in a series of workshops—five held in France and five in the UK. Preliminary results indicate significant gaps in existing self-positioning training methods and reveal positive stakeholder expectations regarding the application of VR technology in this context. Future work will involve further evidence synthesis and thematic analysis to guide system design and subsequent clinical evaluation.