In February 2017, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially opened the new Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE & the refurbished Edinburgh Imaging Facility QMRI. 12 months on, we take a look back at this exciting year for our three hospital embedded facilities, that form part of Edinburgh Imaging. Edinburgh Imaging Facility RIE Following the installation of a high-powered neuro-optimised MRI scanner, located within the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Bioquarter, the staff have been kept extremely busy, with training days, new staff inductions and completing a total of 780 scans in the first year! The Siemens Magnetom Prisma 3T MR Scanner has allowed researchers to examine the brain at all stages of life - including the TheirWorld study involving premature babies, which aims to shed new light on the factors affecting healthy brain growth in early life. To date 75 scans have been done for this study. Other studies also underway include Future-MS and Investigate-SVDs. Our researchers are also very much looking forward to two new studies commencing in the Spring, namely the LACunar Intervention (LACI-2) Trial (funded by the British Heart Foundation) and the SVD & Sleep Apnoea study (funded by the Leducq Fondation). Whilst the majority of our studies in the last twelve months have been investigating disorders that affect the brain, we have also been performing scans for research studies focusing on the liver, kidney and heart disease. This is a superb facility for advanced studies of common brain disorders at all stages of life’ Professor Joanna WardlawPersonal Chair Applied Neuroimaging We were also fortunate that artist, India Cawley Gelling agreed to create an outstanding window livery displaying the brain at different ages as well as the body’s blood vessels. Image Image Edinburgh Imaging Facility WGH Our original site at the Western General hospital, housing our GE Signa 1.5T MR scanner, is still very busy with approximately 1,100 scans completed in the last year. Many of these scans were for the recently completed Prevent-SVD (or LACunar Intervention Trial-1, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society), as well as the Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) study (funded by the CSO). We are now looking forward to starting the next wave of scanning for the Lothian Birth Cohort (LBC) 1936 study. Following our recent scanner upgrade, the WGH facility remains busy and continues to attract high profile longitudinal research studies like the LBC1936 wave 5. We also continue to support important clinical trials and additional research studies mainly focusing on acute stroke, MS, CJD and the ageing brain. Charlotte JardineSuperintendent Radiographer Edinburgh Imaging Facility QMRI After a brief period to set up and commission the Siemens Biograph mMR scanner – which combines MRI with another type of imaging technology – positron emission tomography (PET) – in a single machine, we have attracted world-leading novel research projects to be performed exclusively in Edinburgh. Image The facility has completed over 50 PET-MR scans since August 2017, including assessment of acute neurovascular syndrome and investigating whether cerebral amyloid angiopathy is associated with stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage. All our PET activity is supported by our extensive radiochemistry suite along with an on-site cyclotron. We also house a Siemens Magnetom Verio MR scanner which has successfully completed almost 750 scans in the last year, including studies focusing on MS, Alzheimers, and Dementia. Both the Siemens Biograph mCT and GE PET-CT have been very busy with over 650 CT scans and 2,190 PET-CT scans, being completed. These devices have enabled the Edinburgh Imaging Facility QMRI, to conduct world leading cardiovascular research as well as be awarded the BMJ Imaging Team of the Year 2017. The Edinburgh Imaging Facility QMRI also supports the Edinburgh Cancer Centre by providing access to clinical PET-CT studies in collaboration with NHS Lothian. We are fortunate to have such high quality and diverse imaging systems, allowing us to support a wide range of research and clinical studies. Professor Edwin van BeekSINAPSE Chair in Clinical Radiology Whilst the last 12 months have been exciting and challenging for us all, Edinburgh Imaging will continue to invest in the future, and we will be updating you all as the year progresses with our scheduled scanner upgrades, extensions to our current facilities and the enhancement of our image analysis suites. Useful links Prof Joanna Wardlaw Prof Edwin van Beek Prof David Newby Article - Chancellor opens new facilities Publication date 20 Feb, 2018
