Cancer patients can soon 'escape' the hospital using virtual reality

Cancer patients at the Ottawa Hospital should soon be able to take a mental escape fromtheir hospital beds thanks to virtual reality.

A group of engineering students at the University of Ottawa are set to pitch virtual places to the hospital this afternoon.

Dr. Justin Sutherland, who works for both organizations,said the virtual reality can really help cancer patients when they're going through chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

"It convinces your brain that you are actually there," he said on CBC Radio'sOttawa Morning.

"When it comes to improving the experience for cancer patients, we can put them in a completely new environment, which is calming and relaxing."

This project will launchon an undetermined date once the winning environments have been picked.

Sutherland said doctors and nurses do everything they can to make a person well, but it's not just about their physical health.

"That's not the only experience the patient has at the hospital,so if we can improve that we should."

Jennifer Shamess is a former cancer patient on the hospital's patient advisory committee.

When she was being treated, she said she did everything she could to take herself out of the situation.

"I was in the hospital for about five days at a time, being infused with different chemicals and I spent most of time inside my brain trying to be somewhere else," she said.

"In my brain, I was building a cottage."

Sutherland said they have asked students to focus on virtual environments that aren't too challenging without a lot of movement, as some treatments can lead to nausea.

"We got some really good feedback from the patientsthat even moving waves could be too much," he said.

He said they are also open to scenarios that patients could go on with their families using the virtual reality goggles; some that are hooked up to a computer, some wireless.

Shamess said when she was being treated it would have been difficult to go anywhere on a vacation, but with this option she could virtually step outside the hospitalwith a family member.

"To both escape together somewhere, I think it would be great."