Public Funding for Specialty Scanners Limited

There is consensus that magnetic resonance (MR) scanner technologies are the tool of choice when it comes to early detection of many diseases and disorders. However, today's conventional MR scanners are costly, heavy, large and also they can be difficult to site. Hence, currently, MR scanners are most often associated with big hospitals, which limit patient access to this important technology. This Pilot Project will deliver an innovative, key subsystem which could enable the design and construction of less costly, smaller, lighter MR scanners, yet, still capable of operating at higher magnetic fields and producing high resolution diagnostic quality images. This could mean that the MR scanners could be sited in GP practices and other small clinical settings for wider access by local communities obviating the need for the patients to travel to large hospitals in big cities. Since 'dementia' (an umbrella term used for many types of neurodegenerative diseases) and particularly Alzheimer's is currently not well understood, there is consensus that the research should concentrate on detecting very early signs of degeneration. It is believed that brain cell death leading to dementia may start decades earlier before memory problems become noticeable. By that stage, a fifth of the core memory centres of the brain might have already be dead. Hence, an argument could easily be made for the introduction of a 'local, GP screening programme' for dementia starting at a relatively young age using MR imaging (MRI) as a primary screening modality. Potentially, this pilot project could help to the realisation of that important goal.