NYP students use virtual reality to help make cancer treatment rooms less frightening for children

SINGAPORE - Young cancer patients undergoing treatments at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) can virtually experience being in treatment rooms to help ease their anxiety before medical procedures.

Developed by final-year design and media students from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in partnership with NCCS, the virtual reality (VR) simulations are meant to better prepare paediatric patients for medical procedures like CT scans and radiotherapy.

Patients wear a VR headset that immerses them in a virtual treatment environment, engaging their senses of sight and sound as they move around. They will see how different machines work and hear the sounds they emit during the treatment process.

The first simulation – of CT scanning rooms – was piloted in 2025. The tool was developed by 16 NYP students.

Another batch of nine students later created VR applications replicating proton and photon radiotherapy environments in 2025. These started being used in early 2026.

To date, 17 paediatric patients have used the simulations as part of treatment preparation, with the youngest being aged seven.

Assistant Professor Eric Pang, NCCS’ deputy head of radiotherapy services, told The Straits Times that radiotherapy, particularly proton beam therapy, can be daunting for young children.

“The treatment rooms are large, the machine moves close to the patient, and patients are required to remain very still during treatment. For many young patients, unfamiliarity and limited understanding of the treatment process and environment can lead to fear and anxiety,” he said.

To support and prepare these patients for treatment, Dr Pang said existing measures include counselling, play therapy, printed educational materials and support from allied health professionals.

Yet, some younger children may still struggle to understand and visualise complex treatment settings.

As such, general anaesthesia (GA) may be required for some of them so that they remain still for safe and accurate radiotherapy delivery.

While GA is effective and generally safe, Dr Pang said it carries additional risks and reducing the reliance on it where possible has its benefits. These include minimising additional procedures and cost, and improving the overall treatment experience for children and families.

“We hope the simulations can help to reduce anxiety, build confidence and allow the patients to better understand what to expect during treatment, making the experience less intimidating,” he said, adding that the VR simulations are offered on a case-by-case basis.

To be eligible, patients have to be at least four years old. Other factors considered include the child’s comfort level and ability to follow instructions while preparing for treatment.

Madam Ng Lay Leng, 44, a homemaker, said the VR simulation of a proton beam therapy room helped her 13-year-old son, Tan Yi Heng, to be less anxious during his treatments.

After her son suffered bouts of headaches and vomiting during a vacation in December 2025, the family was shocked to learn that he had a benign tumour in his head, which would require multiple proton beam therapy sessions.

“The oncology doctor did explain how the treatment would look like, and showed him a video, but experiencing it through VR made a bigger difference,” said Madam Ng.

After going through the VR simulation, she said Yi Heng had a clearer idea of what to expect during the treatment, which lasts about 30 minutes a session.

“When he went inside the treatment room, he was more confident and less worried about the procedure,” she said.

Between Feb 25 and April 8, Yi Heng completed 30 proton beam therapy sessions at NCCS. He has since been able to resume activities such as physical education lessons, which he could not do during the treatment period.

He is scheduled for an MRI scan in the coming weeks to assess how the tumour is responding to treatment.

Ms Alyssa Tan, 20, who was part of the NYP team that created the radiotherapy VR simulations in 2025, said they worked closely with NCCS clinicians to ensure the simulations were an accurate portrayal of the treatment rooms.

This included realistic machine movements and sounds.

“We recorded a lot of audio, of exactly how the machine would sound, to try to get the simulation to mirror as closely as possible the actual treatment,” she said.

Ms Tan added that the team decided on a space theme when designing the VR experience, so that it would be fun and engaging for children.

“With the machines being so big and in a white, sterile room, we wanted to tell the young patients that they’re in space, and this is a machine that makes a really loud noise. But you’re going to be okay,” she said.

The team used motion capture technology to ensure the characters in the VR simulations – clinicians and caregivers – had realistic human-like movements. They also designed simple, easy-to-use controllers for the patients to “operate” the machines and move around the treatment rooms.

While there are no plans to create more VR simulations for other treatments, Dr Pang said the NCCS is working on integrating them into routine clinical practice for paediatric patients.

He added that beyond patient use, the VR simulations could also be used in training for staff and radiotherapy students, to familiarise them with treatment rooms, machine safety and clinical procedures.