Video Game Software Simulates Pregnant Cancer Patients
Research conducted by scientists from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) could soon reduce risks for women needing radiation-based medical tests or cancer treatments while they’re pregnant.
Current radiation-based tests and treatments for cancer rely on sophisticated computer models which determine the precise doses of radiation to be administered. These models, sometimes referred to as phantoms, are constructed using information obtained from extensive x-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans.
Approximately 30 of these phantoms have been developed worldwide, but none were built for pregnant women because the x-rays and CT scans required to build them are potentially harmful to the fetus.
To help overcome the obstacle, the team from RPI and CTRC used new boundary representation (BREP) 3D animation tools being utilized by the manufacturing and video game industries, coupled with rare CT scans of a pregnant patient taken in 2004, to construct whole-body models of pregnant females during the three-, six-, and nine-month phases of gestation.
The scientists are now sharing their BREP-built models with other researchers involved in similar projects and they expect their findings will be integrated into new medical software by then end of the year. As the leader of the project explained,
“These new models should be extremely useful for understanding the risks of radiation, and for better planning radiation imaging and treatment for pregnant women.”
X. George Xu
Professor of Nuclear and Biomedical Engineering, RPI
Results from the NCI-funded study are published in the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology.
Source: RPI News & Events
Related Links: CBS News; SNM; The Consortium of Computational Human Phantoms
Related Podcast: Ten Tip to Prevent Infections During Pregnancy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Tags: Rensselaer Radiation Measurement and Dosimetry Group; San Antonio, TX; Troy, NY; radiotherapy; CAD; biophysics
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