Researchers at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) are using virtual reality (VR) technology to help patients better understand what to expect during a PET/CT scan before it begins. 

The immersive experience will guide patients through each step of the procedure, helping them feel more informed, prepared and confident before they receive their scan.  

By reducing fear of the unknown, the pilot initiative aims to make the experience less stressful, improve the likelihood that patients can successfully complete their scan and make best possible use of valuable hospital resources. 

PET/CT scans play a vital role in diagnosing and monitoring conditions such as cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. But with demand for these scans continuing to grow – the number of Medicare-funded PET procedures has doubled in the past five years – imaging services are under increasing pressure. 

For many patients, particularly those having their first scan, living with claustrophobia or anxiety, or with limited health literacy, uncertainty about what will happen can be overwhelming. In some cases, patients become too distressed to continue after they have already received the specialised radiopharmaceutical needed for the scan. When this happens, appointments must be cancelled, valuable medications are wasted, and patients often need to return on another day, delaying diagnosis and treatment. 

This project aims to address those challenges by adding a short, immersive VR experience to the standard consent process, giving patients the opportunity to virtually experience the scan before it happens, and before they receive their radiopharmaceutical injection.  

Researchers will evaluate whether the VR experience reduces anxiety, improves understanding, increases successful scan completion and supports more efficient use of staff time. Because the technology can be reused and adapted for other imaging procedures, the long-term potential extends well beyond PET/CT.

If successful, the project could provide a scalable new model for patient education across Queensland Health, improving patient confidence, reducing avoidable cancellations and helping more people receive timely diagnostic imaging when they need it most.