The UK’s world-class imaging platform has been extended to Scotland with the launch of the latest total-body scanner at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
Total-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanners are up to 40 times more sensitive, up to 10 times faster and can scan 50% more patients per day than existing machines
The new scanner is co-managed by the University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow, and delivered by the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP).
It is run by UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Medical Research Council (MRC), Innovate UK and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC).
NPIP is funded by a £32 million investment from the UKRI Infrastructure Fund.
Game-changing technology
NPIP is a national imaging technology network that delivers this critical clinical infrastructure of scanners and allows clinicians, industry and researchers to collaborate on an international scale.
The UK is driving the adoption of this game-changing technology through NPIP, which is a strategic concentration of clinical capability that attracts industry investment.
It also establishes a platform for the development of new precision radiopharmaceuticals, an area where the UK can regain a world-leading position.
Improving patient care in Scotland
This expanded national network improves patient care in Scotland by adding further diagnostic capacity and enhancing cancer, cardiovascular, neurological and inflammatory disease diagnosis and treatment.
It also attracts industry to trial their newest drugs in the region and inventors to develop and test world-class artificial intelligence and diagnostics tools.
These objectives align closely with the UK government’s industrial strategy and Life Sciences Sector Plan.
Early detection and faster diagnoses
Science Minister, Lord Vallance, said:
Many of the great medical discoveries of the last century have roots in Scotland.
Edinburgh’s new total body scanner will help more patients to live longer, healthier lives through earlier detection, faster diagnoses and more effective treatment in complex illnesses like cancer, dementia and heart disease for years to come.
Backing our top researchers with cutting edge technology will be key to the next medical breakthroughs that improve lives and drive the economic growth at the heart of the UK Government’s Plan for Change.
Uniting the clinical imagining community
Celebrating the launch, Glenn Wells, Deputy Executive Chair of MRC, part of UKRI, said:
UKRI’s Infrastructure Fund plays a pivotal role in enabling researchers and innovators across the UK to access world-class facilities and equipment that drive meaningful advances in healthcare.
The National PET Imaging Platform will unite the clinical imaging community across the UK through a network of cutting-edge total body PET scanners.
These scanners deliver enhanced speed, diagnostic accuracy, patient comfort, and accessibility.
The platform will foster deeper collaboration between academia, industry, and clinical practice, and will support research across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines, including those that have been historically underserved, such as endometriosis.
Benefiting our patients and our economy
Professor Chris Molloy, Chief Executive of Medicines Discovery Catapult, said:
The national platform we have created allows the combined power of technology and data to be harnessed, attracting industry to test their new treatments here in the UK for the benefit of our patients and our economy.
It shows what’s possible when strategic public funding, clinical expertise, industry knowledge and academic excellence come together around a shared national purpose.
These revolutionary scanners help save lives and create large-scale capability for radiopharmaceuticals and AI-enabling datasets.
UK as a centre of excellence
Dr Juliana Maynard, Director of Operations and Engagement, NPIP, said:
We see the NPIP network as both Critical and Clinical National Infrastructure; a connected nationwide network for data sharing, discovery and innovation we could only dream of a decade ago.
Using these total-body PET scanners, we can observe disease in real time, across the entire body and now, throughout the entire country.
That’s game-changing for drug discovery and treatment in the UK and, more importantly, for how quickly patients can benefit from it.
Researchers will gain access to vastly improved clinical data, not only by tapping into the network for their own trials, but from every study connected to the platform.
This will create an unprecedented level of collaboration in imaging, putting the UK on the world map as a centre of excellence.
Further information
About the UKRI Infrastructure Fund
The UKRI Infrastructure Fund supports the facilities, equipment and resources that are essential for researchers and innovators to do groundbreaking work.
This strategic fund helps to create a long-term pipeline of research and innovation infrastructure investment priorities for the next 10 to 20 years.
It supports a range of projects from new infrastructures to major upgrades, delivering a step change in infrastructure capability and capacity.
The Infrastructure Fund spans the complete disciplinary spectrum and funds infrastructures located across all of the UK’s regions and nations, and those which form part of major international collaborations.
Find more information on UKRI Infrastructure Fund projects.
About MDC
MDC is a national life sciences service dedicated to turning drug discovery into commercial breakthroughs.
It is part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network and based in Alderley Park, Cheshire.
At the frontier of drug discovery, MDC works with entrepreneurial scientists to make every move count.
It validates their ideas, de-risks investments, and feeds insights back into the sector to drive productivity and impact.
MDC creates momentum through its unique blend of discovery expertise, technology, insights, and sector-leading partnerships.
Where there is unmet patient need, MDC stimulates innovation through its national programmes.
MDC has worked with around 300 organisations, who have gone on to raise more than £1.3 billion of research and development investment.
Its approach to drug discovery drives game-changing breakthroughs and improves patients’ lives.
Find more information on MD Catapult.
About NPIP
NPIP is the UK’s first-of-its-kind national total-body PET imaging platform for drug discovery.
It is funded by a £32 million investment from the UKRI Infrastructure Fund and managed through a partnership between Medicines Discovery Catapult, MRC and Innovate UK.
NPIP brings together cutting-edge imaging infrastructure and clinical intelligence to:
- provide a more complete picture of patients and how they respond to novel drugs and treatments
- connect insights from research programmes and trials
Its next-generation total-body PET imaging scanners, located in London and Scotland, provide superior functional imaging, capturing highly sensitive imaging data of the entire body.
The national platform connects projects to build a rich bank of data for improved sharing and knowledge transfer, helping academics, industry and clinicians to improve their studies.
By encouraging greater collaboration across the clinical research community, NPIP is unlocking more opportunities for drug discovery and development.
NPIP provides the unique opportunity to transform medical research, improve the quality and speed of drug discovery, and benefit patients now and in the long term.