A large screen, dimmed lights, high-tech 3D goggles and a captivated audience.
No, it's not the latest showing at London's IMAX cinema, but a room in Sheffield which houses one of the most sophisticated radiotherapy training systems in the world.
On Friday 10 October, the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University welcomed esteemed guests from the world of radiography for the national launch of Virtual Environments for Radiotherapy Training. VERT for short.
The VERT system is a radiotherapy training tool which is being rolled out in universities and radiotherapy departments across England - thanks to a £5 million investment from the Department of Health.
VERT uses immersive visualisation technology to allow radiotherapy students to enter a virtual radiotherapy suite and set up a virtual patient for treatment.
Not only does it allow students to practise treatment, it gives them an inside view of a patient's anatomy, pathology and dosage. It does this in a number of ways, including the use of real-life CT scans.
Under the national scheme, ten universities in England that train therapy radiographers now have VERT up and running and are using itwith students.
Jemma Smith, a third year student at Sheffield Hallam, said: "It's a really great system. I was surprised by how close it is to the real thing when I first used it. We're really enjoying learning with VERT."
Second year radiotherapy student from Birmingham, Kerrie Wilkins, said using VERT provided a very good introduction in her first year: "It was a huge help to see the treatment room yourself and focus on getting used to the handset."
"Things like that seem very trivial, but when you are on placement they aren’t because the patient is there andmay be nervous. It takes away restraints practicing on VERT and givesyou enough confidence to focus once you get onto placement."
To find out more about VERT and for regular news updates click here.
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