Cancer Help Desk, a healthcare nonprofit organization, is working to demonstrate how virtual reality (VR) technology can significantly enhance outcomes for individuals dealing with cancer. Through innovative approaches, the organization is exploring VR’s potential to support and empower its users in navigating complex medical situations.

“Cancer Help Desk’s mission is to provide accessible healthcare resources so patients can make informed and evidence-based decisions for their treatment,” notes Rebecca Driscoll, Founder and CEO of Cancer Help Desk.

The healthcare solution provides an immersive portal for patients to access personalized oncology information, using innovative virtual AI chatbots to help users assess their situation.

Patients can put on XR headsets to enter a virtual environment. Then, using AI bots, ask a virtual medical assistant any related question and receive vital information.

Cancer Help Desk aims to boost awareness of its life-changing mission by working with Lenovo and its ThinkReality portfolio of XR solutions, with plans to conduct a pilot study deploying the solution among community healthcare workers and local advocates.

Driscoll explained:

“The best care and the best access to medicines in oncology are sitting in clinical trials, yet only 7% of patients are making their way to this. We believe that using XR technology in the field and in the community can help change that dynamic.”

Spearheading a Medical Digital Revolution

Cancer Help Desk recently started working alongside Lenovo to leverage the latter’s experience in providing digital healthcare solutions and leading XR headsets to aid in scaling educational efforts that support cancer caregivers and patients in the communities they live in.

However, XR’s journey in the sector is still in its infancy, so the space needs pioneers to lead the way. “We’re still in the early days of this regarding how XR applies to healthcare,” added Mattney Beck, the Senior Marketing Manager for XR Solutions at Lenovo ThinkReality.

Despite XR’s emerging  presence in healthcare—and other markets—Cancer Help Desk is setting out to prove that immersive technology can change lives by helping to educate patients on conditions and treatments while also relieving pressure on far-stretched healthcare professionals.

Andy Nieto, a Lenovo Senior Solutions Manager and AI Strategy Lead, said that democratizing patient-facing medical data “will help bring different options to patients and provide that personalized care that they need to improve their outcomes.”

Notably, the Cancer Help Desk team recently showcased immersive content use cases on Lenovo devices, demonstrating how VR and AI are transforming cancer care—a showcase held at and with assistance from Qualcomm’s Institute for Innovation at UCSD.

Alongside showcasing this integrative work, the Cancer Health Desk team is also highlighting a recent integration with Wipro, a chatbot powered by the Lab45 AI platform.

This integration plans to provide users with a targeted virtual medical assistant ready with cancer-related resources that patients can access via a Lenovo-brand XR headset or a tablet device.

Transforming Patientcare and Education

Many patients do not have direct access to specialized healthcare resources due to regional accessibility factors.

Moreover, while patients may have access to these resources, they may not be able to fully engage with medical professionals due to factors such as language barriers or other individualized considerations.

Cancer Help Desk aims to expand its patient care mission by leveraging AI alongside its currently provided immersive  visualizations, giving engaging and personalized information directly to patients.

Lenovo and Cancer Health Desk share a vision of democratizing crucial healthcare knowledge. To this end, Lenovo provided expertise in emerging virtual computing and digital solutions to assist Driscoll and her team in their life-changing work.

“There are a lot of benefits to AR and VR in education,” said Beck. “It’s more immersive, people retain information more, and it’s more vivid in someone’s life.” Compared to paper or screen-based information, XR’s interactive and immersive nature creates a proactive and engaging learning experience by providing RT3D content that gives a hands-on learning experience for users.

Immersive patient-facing solutions like the Cancer Help Desk provide a deeper understanding through immersive learning visualizations, such as explaining biomarker testing using genomic sequencing and how it relates to newer oncology therapy options.

Cancer Survivor and Lenovo Strategic Alliances & GTM Leader Feroz Mohummed turned to the Cancer Help Desk team to learn more about his situation and condition, adding:

“I had no idea about genomic sequencing, and it was not mentioned in my consultations with caregivers. The Cancer Help Desk informed me about this genomic sequencing test, and then I understood why it is important for me.”

Moreover, speaking on his journey with Cancer Help Desk, Mohummed said:

“When I was diagnosed, it was very overwhelming, with a lot of information coming my way. It was a physical and emotional toll on me. Cancer Help Desk provided all the support and all the correct information which was needed and prepared me for what questions I should ask my oncologist, what questions I should ask my surgeon, and what options I have.”

Nieto  explained that Lenovo Health and the broader team bring together technology in such a way that “technology becomes transparent to the delivery of care,” meaning the vast amount of patient-facing information available is delivered in a centralized manner through AI and XR avenues-creating a streamlined pipeline. “Lenovo has solutions and support for every part of that story,”  remarked.

Nieto also noted how a crucial side of transforming patient care and delivery is to address the before and after of when a patient goes under treatment, explaining:

“You’re only a patient when you are in the act of care. That’s less than 5% of our overall lives for most of us. We’re people the rest of the time. Therefore, a lot of the focus needs to be not only on how we address this treatment but also on addressing person-centred care.”

Moreover, Nieto noted that reaching the late caregiver and then empowering them with empathic and sympathetic care delivery opportunities is “as much about caring for the patient as it is empowering caregivers in addressing the disease.”

Speaking of his experience receiving sympathetic care delivery via the Cancer Help Desk solution, Mohummed remarked, “Now I’m at peace of mind because of all the information I now have. Thank you to Rebecca, and thank you to Cancer Help Desk for that.”

Helping Medical Professionals Today

While the patient-facing aspect of the Cancer Help Desk mission is vital, another crucial element is how XR-enabled democratized healthcare education can assist medical professionals today.

Nieto explained:

“We’ve got an ageing population, and people have longer life expectancies. But at the same time, we also have a shortage of healthcare specialists, especially specialists in cancer. One of the biggest challenges we have in healthcare is increasing access to care, especially for those patients who don’t have a specialist in their area. Technology can help bridge that gap.”

Adding to Nieto’s comments, Driscoll stated that 80% of cancer patients receive care in community settings, not at academic centers where leading treatment is commonly available.

So, reaching a broad range of professional settings and the individuals working within those settings is also crucial in successfully deploying accessible healthcare solutions and information.

Driscoll added:

“We work with community healthcare workers and local advocates in the community to properly educate people in their communities with what they’re encountering. We see this as a huge potential and untapped way of using VR and XR.”

By incorporating also AI with XR, the Cancer Help Desk team can “not only answer questions but learn from the patients and in a thoughtful, ethical way,” Driscoll noted.

An important note about the Cancer Help Desk team is its deep understanding of oncology practices, treatments, clinical trials, and patient resources to support access to care.

The team comprises of oncology nurses, PhD scientists, and a medical advisory board with deep experiences in drug delivery, drug development in pathology, molecular biology, and more-allowing the team to uniquely merge an understanding of medicine and technology.

“We have an opportunity to leverage this technology and see its impact in the broader community setting,” Driscoll added.

Collectively, the amount of information that digital healthcare solutions can consolidate is vast. However, XR and AI can help an individual see it in an understandable way; “it is so empowering,” said Nieto.

With outcomes and life-changing success stories emerging today, with thanks to pioneering leaders and emerging technology, access to healthcare may be set to reach new heights in the coming years; “and that wouldn’t have been if we weren’t able to pull experts together,” remarked Driscoll.