New VR Software Offers Breakthrough in Understanding Childhood Heart Tumors
A cutting-edge software platform developed in Melbourne is poised to revolutionize teh study of cardiac rhabdomyoma, the most common heart tumor in children, and potentially unlock insights into other complex childhood diseases.
A new study, published in Genome Biology and led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), details the capabilities of VR-Omics, a novel tool capable of identifying previously undetectable cellular activity within these benign, yet sometimes life-threatening, tumors.
The software, created by MCRI’s Professor Mirana Ramialison, represents a significant leap forward in biomedical visualization. VR-Omics is the first technology able to analyze and present data in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional virtual reality environments, offering researchers an unprecedented view of the spatial genetic makeup of human tissue.
Cardiac rhabdomyoma is often detected during pregnancy or early infancy and typically doesn’t pose a health risk. However, in some instances, these tumors can obstruct blood flow to vital organs, leading to serious complications such as respiratory distress, irregular heartbeat, and even heart failure.
“When these tumors cause severe health complications, treatment options are limited,” a senior researcher explained. “Currently, the primary intervention involves surgically removing part of the heart, a procedure that carries its own risks of further complications and, tragically, even death. Regrettably, the underlying causes of these tumors remain largely unknown.”
To validate VR-Omics, Professor Ramialison and her team – including Denis Bienroth and Natalie Charitakis – analyzed heart tissue samples from three children in Melbourne diagnosed with cardiac rhabdomyoma. The analysis yielded a breakthrough: the identification of specific tumor characteristics that had previously eluded detection.
Professor Ramialison emphasized the potential of the new tool to accelerate research. “VR-Omics generates 3D visualisations of the cells within human tissue based on large collections of patient data,” she stated. “This allows for a far more complete analysis of human tissue than customary methods.”
moreover, Professor Ramialison rigorously compared VR-Omics to existing state-of-the-art analytical techniques, consistently demonstrating superior performance across all stages of analysis.
“VR-Omics possesses a unique ability to analyze large datasets,enabling the exploration of novel biological mechanisms within rare tissue sections,such as those found in cardiac rhabdomyoma,” she added. “This technology will undoubtedly facilitate further biological discoveries, ultimately leading to a better understanding of numerous childhood conditions.”
The research benefited from contributions from the Melbourne Center for Cardiovascular Genomics and Regenerative medicine (CardioRegen), the University of Konstanz in Germany, Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW), University of Melbourne, and Monash University.
The findings, published in Genome Biology on January 28, 2025, represent a significant step toward unraveling the mysteries of childhood heart tumors and offer hope for more effective, less invasive treatments in the future.[Journal reference: Bienroth, D., et al. (2025). Automated integration of multi-slice spatial transcriptomics data in 2D and 3D using VR-Omics. Genome biology.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03630-6.]
