{"id":28504,"date":"2022-12-01T18:05:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T18:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/?p=24972"},"modified":"2024-11-03T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T15:13:11","slug":"a-radical-project-video-game-design-meets-cancer-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/a-radical-project-video-game-design-meets-cancer-research\/","title":{"rendered":"A radical project: video game design meets cancer research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/div>\n

What does a videogame designer have to do with cancer research? <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Well, until recently, our answer to that question may have been quite different. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But since 2017, when Professor Greg Hannon and his team of international researchers were awarded <\/span>\u00a320<\/span>m to develop a new way for scientists to study tumours, the worlds of cancer research and virtual reality (VR) have collided. The result is unlike anything that has ever been seen in either field. Incredibly, the same techniques that make video games so popular are now advancing our understanding of cancer.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Make it real<\/h2>\n

This is thanks to Cancer Grand Challenges<\/a>, a funding initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute. It brings together diverse international teams of world-class researchers to answer some of the most complex questions in human health<\/a>. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

For the tumour mapping challenge, the IMAXT team has combined existing VR techniques with entirely new approaches to build a system for creating<\/span> 3D representations of individual tumours. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

These are exact models of unprecedented size and detail, and can be viewed, explored and studied<\/span> from the inside using <\/span>VR<\/span>. Moreover, the team has also created a unique VR cancer lab called Project Theia, where researchers can examine these models and do their research together, no matter where in the world they actually are.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Owen Harris<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1.jpg” class=”wp-image-24993 size-thumbnail” src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1-150×150.jpg” alt=”Owen Harris, lead video game designer on IMAXT” width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1-150×150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1-96×96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Owen-Harris-1.jpg 200w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

Owen Harris<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The new perspective IMAXT\u2019s VR software offers could give doctors and scientists the understanding they need to develop new ways to diagnose and treat cancer, stopping it from spreading and coming back. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

And now, on 1<\/span>st<\/span> December 2022, after seeing exceptional responses in trials earlier this year, the IMAXT team has released its software<\/a> to the wider academic (non-commercial) cancer research community. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

To mark the occasion, we spoke to Owen Harris, the lead video game designer for IMAXT, about working alongside scientists on such an innovative project.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

An unusual request <\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

This story starts when Harris was a child. \u201cI was playing video games and, like many kids at the time, I was enamoured by the medium,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd one day I realised they were made by people like me \u2013 they weren\u2019t just these magical artefacts.\u201d From there, Harris\u2019 experience gets a lot less typical. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

He went on to study video game design at college and, after a few years in the industry, got involved with a science project of a different ilk. \u201cI had been working on an intervention for anxiety and depression, studying the effects of soothing music and visuals as well as slow breathing exercises,\u201d he explains. \u201cSo I have some experience working with scientists. And I think that is one of the ways that Greg Hannon<\/a> found me.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But even Harris was surprised when he first heard about IMAXT.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn email arrived in my inbox from Greg,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd I thought it was a scam because it sounded so radical and strange.\u201d Still, it was too interesting to ignore. Harris and Hannon got on a phone call, and the rest is history. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreg explained that he wanted to visualise breast cancer and use virtual reality to generate new treatments for it. At the time, my aunt<\/span>,<\/span> who I was very close with and was one of the most important people in my life, had her breast cancer come back. So I was very motivated to get involved.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The forest and the trees<\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

Biopsies of tumours play a crucial role in a person\u2019s cancer journey. By giving doctors a close up look at a cancer, they reveal indispensable information that helps guide diagnosis and determine decisions around treatment. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But to fully understand cancer, we need to know even more about tumours. That means investigating everything about them: from the types and numbers of different cells inside, to where and how they\u2019re distributed and exactly what they\u2019re doing to help the cancer survive and grow, as well as what\u2019s going on in the surrounding tissue.<\/span><\/p>\n

While biopsies are extremely helpful, current technologies look at cells individually, rather than in the context of their surrounding tissue and environment. This offers vital information about the elements that make up a tumour, but a thorough overview of how the cells interact is missing. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

[Cancer researchers] never actually get to see what they\u2019re working on; they never actually get to visually and viscerally see the results of the things that they\u2019re doing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s where VR comes in. By making it possible to look at tumours as they appear in the body, and not just as isolated clumps of data about individual cells, IMAXT could take analysing biopsies to the next level.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were looking for a specific tree in a forest<\/span>,<\/span> or wanted to understand a particular type of relationship that tree has with its environment, would you rather look at a photograph of the forest or go for a walk through it?\u201d asks Harris.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at a thing and being inside of it are so viscerally and hugely different.\u201d Studying tumours from the inside out can reveal hidden information about their biology, which could help us work out better ways of treating them. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we are trying to facilitate.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

How does the software work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cBecause everything was happening at the same time, we started developing the software before the other parts of the team had actually generated the first samples,\u201d Harris explains.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, we started thinking about the environment of the virtual lab and the sort of place that would be comfortable to spend several hours doing visual analytical work. And we started by just trying to develop a nice space to be in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u2019s ambition was to give scientists a far more spacious and welcoming virtual lab than they have when they interact with their data on traditional computer screens. In fact, Project Theia swaps out the spreadsheet for an entire studio.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Dario Bresson, head of the IMAXT lab, investigates an early-stage breast cancer through VR.<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=” size-thumbnail wp-image-24994″ src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT-150×150.jpg” alt=”Dr Dario Bresson, head of the IMAXT lab, investigates an early stage breast cancer through VR.” width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT-150×150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT-96×96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Dario-using-IMAXT.jpg 200w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

Dr Dario Bresson, head of the IMAXT lab, investigates an early-stage breast cancer through VR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe approached this by thinking about a cook in a professional kitchen, or a sculptor working in their art studio, who has this expansive space and all the tools that they might need to do reflective and creative work,\u201d says Harris.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not easy to create something so novel. \u201cNothing like this had ever existed before, so we had to make a lot of guesses. We had to use a lot of intuition to lay the space out and think about what tools would be needed, as well as where things should be \u2013 and even how bright the space should be.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Like most things, the virtual lab evolved once the team was able to see how scientists used the original version of the interface. \u201cAnd it was through that process that making version 2 became very different. Now we know what the data looks like.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Moving from game design into research<\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

Breakthroughs don\u2019t just happen overnight. Research takes time. To Harris, that\u2019s a key difference between making video games and designing tools for scientists.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a tremendous pressure in the video game industry to produce and ship content as quickly as possible. This is the reason video games end up being so similar. In a scientific project there is generally more time to ideate, experiment, try different paths and find the best solutions to problems. The process is slower in pace but deeper in results.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Some differences made for more of a challenge. Perhaps the biggest one for Harris was the amount of the data cancer research generates. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Tumours are incredibly complex. That\u2019s part of the reason a VR tool is so useful for studying them. But it\u2019s also why it\u2019s so hard to make one. In a video game you might have to get hundreds or thousands of things moving onscreen, but in the case of IMAXT, the team had to deal with tens, or even hundreds of thousands of<\/span> pieces of data at once \u2013 from individual cells to tiny molecules within them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Each sample collected and analysed by the team represents around 100 terabytes of data \u2013 more than twice the amount of information collected over the first 20 years of the Hubble Telescope.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Nonetheless, cancer research and video game design also have quite a bit in common. When Harris describes it, developing a video game sounds a lot like running a scientific experiment.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen designing video games, you\u2019re trying things out, you\u2019re seeing what works,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou have a theory or an idea, and you test it, you see if it\u2019s the right way to go. That was easy to slot into a research setting.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

From spreadsheets to headsets<\/span><\/h2>\n

The response of scientists trying this tech out for the first time has been, in Harris\u2019 words, \u201cdelightful\u201d.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Eliane Brechbuel, a Phd student, tries out IMAXT<\/p>\n

” data-medium-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1.jpg” data-large-file=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1.jpg” loading=”lazy” class=”wp-image-24990 size-thumbnail” src=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1-150×150.jpg” alt width=”150″ height=”150″ srcset=”https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1-150×150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1-96×96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/news.cancerresearchuk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eliane-using-IMAXT-1.jpg 200w” sizes=”(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px”><\/p>\n

Eliane Brechbuel, a Phd student, tries out Project Theia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some of the best reactions have come from people who study single cells, working with huge amounts of very specific data. \u201cWe were talking to some students who were describing how, currently, they just have to work in these really huge spreadsheets and do this kind of analysis through programming interfaces,\u201d he explains. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey never actually get to see what they\u2019re working on; they never actually get to visually and viscerally see the results of the things that they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Changing that makes studying tumours a lot easier. As they get used to the IMAXT platform, researchers will be able to do more analysis on more samples in less time, all while working more closely with colleagues from around the world.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s about a lot more than creating a better working environment. Importantly, by making it possible for researchers to visualise their data in a different way, IMAXT could give them new ways of interpreting and using their findings. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, giving researchers these tools and datasets will enable them to make real discoveries and breakthroughs,\u201d says Harris. There\u2019s potential to more closely study why some cancers come back in very aggressive ways and why others do not, and to predict how cancers might return or develop. \u201cMaybe eventually we\u2019ll even get to the place where this is used to analyse specific patients and tumours.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

With researchers now uploading their samples, strapping on their headsets and stepping into the virtual lab, that\u2019s beginning to look more and more like it could become reality.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Find out more about the IMAXT team on the Cancer Grand Challenges website<\/a>.<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

The software can be accessed for free for academic non-commercial research only under the terms of an Academic Licence at Suil.ie<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

More on this topic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does a videogame designer have to do with cancer research? Well, until recently, our answer to that question may have been quite different. But since 2017, when Professor Greg Hannon and his team of international researchers were awarded \u00a320m to develop a new way for scientists to study tumours, the worlds of cancer research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43126,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28504\/revisions\/43126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ogkologos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}