A new generation of 3D Virtual Reality (VR) imaging technology at OSF HealthCare is giving surgeons a clearer view of cancer than ever before – and in some cases, completely changing surgical plans. For OSF HealthCare thoracic surgeon Richard Anderson, MD, that level of insight recently made the difference between removing part of a patient’s chest wall and preserving it entirely.

Dr. Anderson, chair and Norman Estes Professor of Surgery at University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, says the leap from standard imaging to 3D modeling is transformative for surgeons.

A better view

“So the real difference between a 2D and 3D is, just imagine looking at something on a piece of paper with two different pictures, looking at it from side to side, as opposed to having a model in your hand and being able to take that model and move it all around in all different directions, upside down, inside out, even open up things within the model and look at it. It’s really the difference between 2D and 3D.” Dr. Anderson adds, “It’s really quite impressive.”

The technology allows his team to isolate tumors, peel away layers of anatomy, and examine the intricate relationships among bones, vessels, and muscle before they ever enter the operating room. That clarity is especially crucial in complex thoracic oncology, where anatomy is delicate, variable and easily injured.

For Dr. Anderson and others who use 3D imaging, it increases the surgeon’s confidence.

“In the more complex oncology cases, it can make a big difference. It can help the surgeon really identify what structures they have to worry about during the operation, what structures they might have to sacrifice, before they actually do the operation and gives them a little bit more level of confidence going into the operation than probably they would have before.”

A tumor in a rare location

That level of detail proved critical in a recent complex thoracic oncology case. Thoracic surgery presents unique challenges because of the delicate and complex anatomy of the chest.

“The arteries aren't made the same, and so they're easier to tear. They're much more delicate. Lung tissue is sometimes like tissue paper, too. It’s easy to injure and tear. You have got to be very careful when you do the dissections in thoracic surgery. That's what makes it so challenging.”

Dr. Anderson treated Jake Wilson, a 69-year-old retired farmer and former prison guard from Central Illinois. Wilson’s case was challenging. He was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer and in August of 2025 began a series of chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the aggressively growing tumor.

Still, as surgery approached, Dr. Anderson was challenged with removing a nearly six‑centimeter tumor (about the size of a small egg) situated high in the chest, closely hugging the first three ribs. Standard 2D scans suggested the cancer had invaded the bone – a scenario that would typically require removing three ribs to ensure the cancerous tumor was completely removed.

Seeing is believing

But when Wilson became the first adult patient with lung cancer to have his case analyzed using advanced 3D modeling and virtual reality, the picture changed dramatically. The technology revealed that his ribs were not invaded at all. The tumor, though large and aggressive, was confined to muscle.

Sister M. Pieta Keller, Connor Davey, and Reid Jockisch, innovation engineers at Jump Simulation worked to segment the tumor for 3D viewing in virtual reality. Sister M. Pieta recently showed Wilson the 3D rendering. It was something he’ll never forget as she displayed his chest wall anatomy in vivid color and manipulated the images to reveal why Dr. Anderson could spare all three ribs.

“That was one of my biggest fears was losing my ribs,” Wilson explained. “Just the concept of that,” he said as his voice trailed off. Sister M. Pieta explained, “And your recovery and your pain would have been a lot higher,” to which Wilson responded, “I’m sure.” Sister M. Pieta added, “So this was quite the gift.”

After years of lung scans due to his history of smoking, seeing the vivid digital model after his successful surgery made the size and seriousness of the tumor undeniably real. Having only retired from farming six months earlier, Wilson admitted that going into the surgery, he was really scared.

“That put the fear of God into me, needless to say, because I’m an active person. I’m a farmer. I thought, ‘I could see being debilitated for the rest of my life.’”

A recovery that surprised everyone

The new imaging technology altered not only the surgical approach, but Wilson’s experience afterward. Instead of the severe pain typically expected after chest wall removal, his discomfort was minimal; it was largely limited to the area where an intercostal muscle was removed.

Wilson required only mild pain medication and never needed supplemental oxygen after losing half of his lung, something his care team described as highly unusual.

Even more astonishing, follow‑up imaging showed his remaining lung tissue had expanded far faster than expected. His post‑surgical biopsies revealed a remarkable result: the tumor was completely non‑viable (dead) at the time of removal.

A message about screening

Today, Wilson is cancer‑free and sharing his story. He credits many people along the way, including his primary care doctor, who five years ago, when Wilson was still smoking, encouraged him to get an annual CT screening to detect lung cancer.

“I thought, ‘I’m the one that’s stupid enough to do this to myself I ought to at least be smart enough to use a little preventive maintenance.’” He added, “And thank God I did because I might already be gone.”

But above all, Wilson returns to the strength of his faith which he credits with leading him to Dr. Anderson and his care team at OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute in Peoria and OSF Cancer Center in Bloomington. He is sharing his story to show the power of prayer and faith, and to instill hope.

“I know for a fact that the most important thing a person can have in these ordeals is hope because without hope you give up. And this is one time you can’t afford to give up because if you give up, you’re done,” Wilson declared.

For Dr. Anderson, the case represents the promise of 3D technology not just to guide surgeons, but to change outcomes. He calls that, “A good day at work.” And for Wilson, it represents something even bigger: a second chance he intends to use to encourage others to seek preventive screenings, face fear with hope and share gratitude for every day.

Video clips with Dr. Richard Anderson

Video clips with oncology patient Jake Wilson

B-roll of 3D imaging and Dr. Anderson

Imagine being a heart surgeon preparing for a complex case. Traditionally, you rely on stacks of 2D images from CT scans to build a mental picture of your patient’s anatomy. But the heart isn’t static – it twists and pumps blood in a rhythm unique to each person. Now, thanks to a breakthrough at OSF Innovation, surgeons can “see” their patient’s heart beating in 3D before ever stepping into the operating room.

This innovation is called the 4D Heart. Unlike standard 3D models, which capture a single snapshot in time, the 4D Heart recreates every phase of a patient’s cardiac cycle, allowing doctors to watch their heart beat virtually. And it isn’t just a generic animation. Rather, it is the creation of a digital twin.

“This is taking a CT scan of a patient, a retrospectively gated CT scan, and converting a patient’s own heart – in each phase of that cardiac cycle – and making it beat in a virtual environment,” says Matthew Bramlet, MD, who directs the Advanced Image and Modeling (AIM) Lab at OSF Innovation. The lab is focused on improving the understanding of complex anatomy for surgeons and diagnosticians. Dr. Bramlet also specializes in congenital cardiac MRI for OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois and is an associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria and the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering in Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Bramlet’s efforts began in 2018 with manually segmenting parts of the heart so it could be viewed in virtual reality. It continued with an infusion of grant money two years ago. Using an Innovation for Health (IFH) grant with Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, a team used machine learning to convert standard medical images into a sequence of 3D models that, when played sequentially, create a 3D beating heart – the 4D heart. The initial process took an entire summer.

That made the technology nearly impossible to use in real world clinical care. But in late 2024, researchers achieved a major breakthrough. With the help of engineers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, AIM lab engineers trained neural networks on hundreds of high-quality CT scans and automated the entire process. Now, what once took months can be done with a single click.

“Have you ever seen a flip book where you see a drawing move? That’s what we’re doing with these 3D models in a digital, virtual space.” Dr. Bramlet explains, “We’re just turning them off and on in rapid succession until we have that beating heart.”

For surgeons, the benefits are game-changing. They can see not only the anatomy but also how it changes with every beat. This is especially critical for conditions such as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, where the problem lies in how the heart contracts. Even more surprising, the AI began rendering valves — structures notoriously difficult to see on CT scans.

“Now we can see that valve which we really couldn’t see before. So, repeat valve procedures are very valuable for this. TAVR or any valve in the cath lab, we’re finding good use with these as well as the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cases.”

Hospitals across the country are taking notice, sending scans to OSF and receiving beating heart files in return. Some don’t even have the technology to view them yet. Dr. Bramlet says OSF Innovation is pushing the boundaries so far forward, some other health systems will need to get on board with the technology to be able to visualize the data being sent to them.

For now, the ability to view a 4D Heart is already changing how surgeons think about the body’s most vital organ. In some cases, the new view is confirming a surgery plan. In other cases, including a most recent pediatric heart case from another hospital, it changed the approach. Dr. Bramlet says as surgeons interact with the models, they are amazed.

He shares, “I see those lightbulbs go on and there’s nothing like being able to observe and interact with these 3D models in a format, and especially a 4D model, in a way they’ve never been able to see them before, and it will become the standard of care, I have no doubt.”

The ultimate vision is bold: a patient enters the CT or MRI scanner, and their digital twin heart comes out the other side – ready for analysis, surgical planning and even analysis of AI-driven measurements like ejection fraction or blood flow strain to help with diagnosis and a treatment plan.

How long until that happens? Hard to say because as Dr. Bramlet points out, “seeing is believing,” and it might take time for health systems to invest in the technology to make the vision become reality. Government reimbursement for the care will also drive adoption. For now, the work is being covered through research grants, most notably; the Jump ARCHES endowment through the Health Care Engineering Systems Center at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and OSF HealthCare.

Dr. Mathew Bramlet

B-roll-4D Beating Heart