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Birmingham students treat virtual patients

5083/SA 5th June 2008

• Birmingham City students among first in country to use virtual system programme for Radiotherapy training
  
  
• System has transformed Radiotherapy teaching
  
  
• Virtual system has cost in excess of £200k

Students at Birmingham City University are amongst the first in the country to use a virtual reality system to learn how to treat patients with cancer.

The system, known as the virtual environment for radiotherapy training (VERT), projects a life-sized treatment room - with all its equipment as well as a patient on a treatment table – on to a large screen which allows trainees and qualified radiographers to practise delivering treatment in a real life situation.

Birmingham City University entered into a partnership with creators of VERT (based at Hull University) to develop the facility and in early 2007 became the first University in England to have an on-site virtual system. This has since been upgraded. Costing in excess of £200k, the current equipment was funded jointly by the Department of Health and the University’s CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning).

Julie Hall, Programme Director on the BSc Radiotherapy course at Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Health, explains:  “The system works by using an actual radiotherapy handset in combination with 3D technology which recreates the radiotherapy machine (known as a linear accelerator or ‘linac’), the room in which it is situated and the patient lying on the couch. This reinforces the learning experience and makes VERT a viable alternative to the real thing. We can also do things that are not normally possible such as looking inside the virtual patient to see the anatomy, the location of the tumour and radiotherapy treatment beams.”

“The VERT system is starting to transform the way we teach students. It allows students to acquire skills that they would normally only be able to develop whilst on clinical placement.  They are able to learn to use the linac at their own pace, in a stress-free environment where they can learn from any mistakes. Students can therefore be better prepared for clinical practice – they have told us that this means they are more confident about using the equipment when they go on to their first placement with real patients.”

Birmingham City University is one of only ten educational institutions in the country to offer Radiotherapy training, and the only Midlands’ provider of Radiotherapy and Radiography programmes. For further information on courses, please telephone 0121 331 5595, or log on to www.bcu.ac.uk  

For further information please contact Birmingham City University Media Relations Office on 0121 331 6738, email press@bcu.ac.uk or out of hours on 07967 271 532.

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