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Developing a Web Based Virtual Environment to Enhance Radiation Therapy Education During COVID-19 and Beyond

R Sheu*, M Dimopoulos, S Skubish, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY

Presentations

PO-GePV-T-360 (Sunday, 7/10/2022)   [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]

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Purpose: In order to enhance our radiation therapy students’ learning experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, we incorporated and enhanced the application of our web based virtual platform, initially intended to confirm clearance, to support student education and training at a time when virtual learning was critical.

Methods: Our virtual platform was developed using open source and web technologies (HTML/JavaScript/WebGL), housing three learning components: Virtual LINAC, Virtual Visit, and Virtual Align. These applications provide virtual reality environments of LINAC operation, the department of radiation oncology, and image-guided radiotherapy workflow. The applications run on common web browsers and cross-platform. Students and instructors gain access our applications anytime, anywhere; there is no additional installation required.

Results: De-identified sample patient cases with CT images for different treatment sites were built-in and treatment plan visualization features were added. Users can practice shifts, patient orientation, and better understand beam arrangement. A virtual 360-degree departmental tour (Virtual Visit), developed for ACR site visit during the pandemic, was added to our virtual platform. This application has benefitted not only radiation therapy students but also high school students, college freshman, and even medical students interested in our specialty. The Virtual Align was designed to simulate image-guided treatment workflow and provide users hands-on experience to practice 2D-2D and 3D-3D imaging alignment, an area radiation therapy students struggle in real time. This platform now supports a lab component where students gain hands on virtual experience prior to joining the clinical environment. Feedback from students in the classroom and in the clinic has been overwhelmingly positive.

Conclusion: The utilization and accessibility of our virtual platform improved in-class learning and off-line practice. The tool continues to evolve, providing benefits to radiation therapy education and beyond.

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