Virtual reality is creating new arenas to research in the field of medical sciences. In a recent invention, the scientific team at Cancer Research U.K. Cambridge Institute have successfully built a VR model of tumor that bestows a new angle to study the dreaded disease. This new advancement in cancer study will surely pave a way for the researchers to study the ailment in further detail and come up with new drugs and treatment methods.
Greg Hannon, director of Cancer Research U.K. Cambridge Institute (CRUK) quoted “No-one has examined the geography of a tumor in this level of detail before; it is a new way of looking at cancer,”
The sample of the tumor was extracted from a cancer patient which was then mapped in 3D to examine every single cell from different aspects.
Details about the experiment
Scientists initiated their research with a cubed piece of breast cancer tumor that was around 1mm in size and contained around one lakh individual cells.
After the extraction of the cube, it was sliced into thin pieces which were then stained with distinct markers and then scanned to study the molecular makeup and the genomic characters of each cell.
After the scanning of the cell, the exact structure of each and every cell was created in 3-D by the application of Virtual reality and was then analyzed with the help of a virtual reality laboratory.
One more key feature of the virtual reality system is that it allows multiple users residing in any part of the globe to examine the tumor.
The model also equips research to fly through different tumor cells and thus furnishes an easy way to observe and understand each and every cell in depth.
Cancer is amongst one of the most dreaded diseases that kill millions of people in the world EV every year. The fatal disease has no cure and with this new invention, we must hope of the discovery of a new cure, that may be able to prevent deaths or at least prolong the lifespan of the patient.