July 6, 2010 – The development of a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, which may revolutionize the way medical conditions are diagnosed and treated, is to take a major step forward as a $10.6 million research center is established at the University of York.

Hyperpolarization with parahydrogen is a technique developed at the university that can dramatically increase the sensitivity of MRIs. It is hoped hyperpolarization will eventually be used to help doctors make diagnoses in minutes that currently take days and tailor treatments more accurately to the needs of individual patients.

The research team, led by professors Simon Duckett and Gary Green, of the departments of chemistry and psychology respectively, has secured a grant from the Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation, as well as financial support from industrial partners and the university, to build the York Centre for Hyperpolarisation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

“Although MRI is already an incredibly useful technique, its sensitivity is in fact very low, rather like finding a needle in a haystack, which makes it difficult to detect the early stages of disease. It can also be very slow, limiting the way MRI is used in clinical settings,” Duckett said.

The York Centre will bring together researchers from across the departments of chemistry, psychology, biology and the Hull York Medical School to develop this technology. The team will also be working with professor Jürgen Hennig of the University Hospital Freiburg, one of the world’s leading experts in the medical application of MRI technology.

Hyperpolarization involves transferring the magnetism of parahydrogen to molecules, making them more visible to nuclear magnetic resonance, an important research tool in chemistry, and magnetic resonance imaging. The new center’s early research program will develop the chemical basis of this method to make it suitable for medical applications.


Related Content

News | Radiology Business

July 25, 2024 — Immunis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotech developing groundbreaking secretome therapeutics for age and ...

Time July 25, 2024
arrow
News | RSNA

July 23, 2024 — Professional registration is open for RSNA 2024, the world’s largest radiology forum. This year’s theme ...

Time July 23, 2024
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

July 23, 2024 — Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that an artificial intelligence (AI) model ...

Time July 23, 2024
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

July 17, 2024 — Hyperfine, a groundbreaking medical device company that has redefined brain imaging with the world’s ...

Time July 17, 2024
arrow
News | Prostate Cancer

July 11, 2024 — GE HealthCare’s MIM Software, a global provider of medical imaging analysis and artificial intelligence ...

Time July 11, 2024
arrow
News | Prostate Cancer

July 2, 2024 — A new editorial paper was published in Oncoscience (Volume 11) on May 20, 2024, entitled, “Deep learning ...

Time July 02, 2024
arrow
News | Clinical Trials

June 27, 2024 — Prenuvo, which makes whole-body MRI screening for early cancer detection and other diseases, has ...

Time June 27, 2024
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

June 25, 2024 — Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, one of the nation’s top pediatric health care systems, today ...

Time June 25, 2024
arrow
News | MRI Breast

June 12, 2024 — Royal Philips recently announced the 1,111th installation of its revolutionary BlueSeal 1.5T magnet ...

Time June 12, 2024
arrow
News | Radiology Business

May 29, 2024 — Strategic Radiology added a third California member to the nation’s leading coalition of independent ...

Time May 29, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now