unding for a new MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging System) for research at the University of Aberdeen’s Medical School was announced today [13 January] by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.
The grant of £216,000 from SHEFC secures further collaborative funding from the University Development Trust and the instrument manufacturers totalling half a million pounds to buy a small-bore magnetic resonance imaging system. The news is a major boost for the University’s world-renowned MRI Group of the Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering where the equipment will enhance on-going medical research.
The MRI research team - led by Dr Meg Foster and her husband Dr Jim Hutchison, with Professors Andrew Rees, Alex Forrester and James Hutchison of the University Medical School - forms part of an integrated research programme linking developments in medical physics with medical research to accelerate progress to direct clinical applications.
Dr Meg Foster says:
“The collaborative funding for the new MRI system was dependant on the SHEFC grant and I’m delighted with the news today that the grant has been secured. The MRI Group see the new instrument as a key aspect of exploration of disease processes and response to treatment of specific medical problems including: complications of diabetes, such as kidney damage and changes in the eye; the wide range of effects in the body associated with sepsis; and the variety of changes which can take place in the spine and in joints during stress or with conditions such as arthritis.”
The studies are a continuation of the development of MRI technology and its clinical use which the Aberdeen team has been working on since the 1970s and which have made such a major contribution to medical research.