Advances in the virtual reality interstitial brachytherapy system

Abstract

This paper describes improvements to the virtual reality (VR) brachytherapy system that we have previously designed and implemented. Brachytherapy is a cancer treatment modality whereby, needles are inserted into a patient to act as channels to deliver radioactive sources to the diseased tissue. The focus of this paper is on the advances that have been made on the system. More software tools have been added to the system, as well as the interfacing of a new head mounted display (HMD). The method in which the user inputs information into the system has changed from a graphical user interface to a voice user interface (VUI). Some preliminary work has been carried out on an artificial intelligence (AI) component, which will suggest optimal needle placement to the user. This early work on the Al component involves the use of Simulated Annealing to find optimal needle positions within a single 2D slice of a cancerous tumour. The new software tools have been found to be very useful. The new HMD, has been successfully interfaced to the VR system and far exceeds the usefulness of the previous device. The VUI has a high level of accuracy and greatly increases the usability of the VR system. Preliminary results from the AI component of the system suggest that further research will lead to a very useful optimization method for use in the VR brachytherapy system.