HP Innovation Journal Issue 14: Spring 2020 | Page 62
“We’re going from an information-poor to an information-
rich scenario,” Saltz says. “Soon, patients will get a much
more precise set of suggestions based on personal genetics,
the specifics of their immune system, and other factors.”
SEEING TUMORS FROM EVERY ANGLE IN VR
Strapping on virtual reality (VR) headsets like HP’s
Reverb Pro Edition, doctors can now virtually fly through
representations of muscles, bones, and blood vessels,
exploring the specific dimensions of the tumor they must
attack from every angle.
Companies such as Immersive Touch and Surgical
Theater let surgeons feed traditional CT and MRI scans
into a medical visualization platform, which then builds
a VR representation. This view offers an unprecedented
way to navigate through the tumor and nearby anatomy
for surgical planning and testing a procedure using
virtual instruments. It also allows specialists anywhere
in the world to collaborate virtually on the best
treatment plan for difficult cases.
“You can do things you can’t do in the real world, like blow
up a tumor’s size and stand inside it,” says MaryKate
Mahoney, HP’s Healthcare VR Global Lead. “You can
segment and color-code different tissue to get a better
picture of what you’re attacking.”
Mahoney says HP is one of the organizations pushing the
VR envelope in healthcare, with new hardware capabilities
set to roll out later this year, including personalized
surgical planning aids and enhanced spatial audio that lets
a wearer hear sound in three dimensions. She predicts a
future in which technology merges the virtual and real
worlds in the operating room, where doctors will use
augmented reality glasses while performing surgery, and
computers will overlay their field of vision with critical
data like a patient’s vital signs and AI-powered visual aids
to guide procedures.
MORE PRECISE, PERSONALIZED TREATMENTS
Molecular information is also at the heart of treatments
scientists are developing to target a patient’s unique disease.
Clinicians now routinely perform DNA sequencing on
biopsies to understand a cancer cell’s genetic blueprint,
informing therapies that can target specific molecules on
the surface of, or within, a patient’s cancer cells. These
selective pharmaceuticals can stop gene expression
in particular cancer cells or tell them to self-destruct,
unlike older medicines, which lay waste to all fast-
replicating cells, whether they’re cancerous or not.
Researchers are also excited about an approach called
immunotherapy, which trains a patient’s immune system
to recognize and destroy cancer cells. In one example,
a company called Precision BioSciences edits the DNA in
one kind of white blood cells so they can recognize specific
diseases. Doctors then infuse these altered cells back into
the patient to fight the disease.
“Old chemotherapies were generic, not specifically targeted,
and very toxic,” Saltz says. “Targeted therapies are
remarkably effective, and their effects can last for years.”
LESS INVASIVE “LIQUID” BIOPSIES
AND BETTER RESEARCH TOOLS
With today’s precision treatments tuned to work at the
cellular level, scientists and doctors need an even clearer
view of the tumors they’re treating. Enter the world of
microfluidics, the science of fluid flow at microscopic
scales using tiny pumps, tubes, and other components.
“The potential of
these technologies
isn’t sci-fi anymore.”
—M ARYKATE MAHONEY
HP’s Healthcare VR Global Lead