Conceptual Design and Preliminary Results of a VR-based Radiation Safety Training System for Interventional Radiologists
This addresses radiation safety training for interventional radiologists, but it is incremental as it applies existing VR technology to a specific domain.
The authors tackled the problem of occupational radiation exposure in interventional radiology by developing a VR-based training system using MS HoloLens to simulate radiation fields and provide real-time feedback, with preliminary results showing it can calculate and report exposure based on precomputed data and trainee positioning.
Recent studies have reported an increased risk of developing brain and neck tumors, as well as cataracts, in practitioners in interventional radiology (IR). Occupational radiation protection in IR has been a top concern for regulatory agencies and professional societies. To help minimize occupational radiation exposure in IR, we conceptualized a virtual reality (VR) based radiation safety training system to help operators understand complex radiation fields and to avoid high radiation areas through game-like interactive simulations. The preliminary development of the system has yielded results suggesting that the training system can calculate and report the radiation exposure after each training session based on a database precalculated from computational phantoms and Monte Carlo simulations and the position information provided in real-time by the MS Hololens headset worn by trainee. In addition, real-time dose rate and cumulative dose will be displayed to the trainee by MS Hololens to help them adjust their practice. This paper presents the conceptual design of the overall hardware and software design, as well as preliminary results to combine MS HoloLens headset and complex 3D X-ray field spatial distribution data to create a mixed reality environment for safety training purpose in IR.