Introduction and background
The National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) report to the United Kingdom Users are
(UK) Government in 2007
1
identified a potential crisis in England in relation
to radiotherapy education and training, with a need to reduce urgently the convinced
attrition rate of student therapeutic radiographers. The report recommended the
introduction of hybrid virtual environment skills training facilities across the 10 they are part
radiotherapy higher education providers in England and 51 associated clinical sites.
These facilities would aim to improve retention through enhancing the student of a ‘real’
learning experience and providing learners with the opportunity to develop
knowledge and skills in an engaging and ‘safe’ environment without further environment
impacting on already stretched clinical resources.
A suitable virtual reality platform was readily available – the Virtual Environment for
Radiotherapy Training (VERT) system – utilising immersive visualisation technology
and software developed by Vertual Ltd
2
. The VERT system provides a life sized virtual
radiotherapy treatment room and allows the user to interact with the virtual room,
control the equipment and set up radiation treatments as if in the real world.
In response to the NRAG recommendation, the Department of Health and Cancer
Action Team made £5 million available to fund:
the purchase of the VERT software and the necessary associated hardware;
Figure 1: What is being assessed
refurbishment costs to support installation; and,
in the VERT project?
an 18 month project to manage the implementation of the VERT technology and
assess its impact.
The VERT project commenced in April 2008, ends in October 2009, and is being led
Figure 2: Structure of
by the Society and College of Radiographers. It aims to assess the potential use of the VERT project
the technology and its effect on the student experience; the impact upon curricula,
and the impact upon student recruitment and retention. Figure 1 illustrates the
focus of the desired project outcomes. Figure 2 provides an overview of how the
project structure is developing.
This paper will, first, review the VERT system and the rationale for its use. It will
then report on how VERT has been implemented to date. Finally, it will discuss the
early insights being gained in terms of the use of VERT for radiotherapy education
and training.
The VERT system and a rationale for its use
The technology
The VERT system and its functionality has been fully described elsewhere
2-4
but,
essentially, it comprises high resolution stereoscopic projection on to a large
screen, providing a realistic virtual environment of a radiotherapy treatment room.
2009
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