Scientists at Aberdeen University create pioneering new scanner 50 years after the university invented the first MRI scanner which revolutionised medicine
British scientists have developed the world’s first ultra-low magnetic scanner which could change the way breast cancer is diagnosed and treated.
The Field Cycling Imager (FCI) scanner can better distinguish tumour material from healthy tissue meaning fewer surgeries for women with the disease. It has been created by researchers at Aberdeen University which also invented the MRI scanner 50 years ago which has gone on to save millions of lives around the world.
Currently, around 15% of women need a second surgery after a lumpectomy – surgery to remove an area of cancer and some surrounding tissue – as the edges of the tumour may still be involved. Scientists said the FCI scanner can identify “previously undetectable cancer tumour invasion” by using a range of strengths of magnetic field.
Dr Lionel Broche, senior Research Fellow in Biomedical Physics and lead researcher in the study, said: “We found that images generated from FCI can characterise breast tumours more accurately. This means it could improve the treatment plan for the patients by improving the accuracy of biopsy procedures by better detecting the type and location of tumours, and by reducing repeated surgery so really, the potential impact of this on patients is extraordinary.”
How it works
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a type of scan that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of organs and tissue inside the body. It revolutionised medicine after the first full body MRI scanner was built by Aberdeen University in the late-70s and is commonplace in most hospitals diagnosing diseases of the brain, spine, bones, joints, breasts, blood vessels, prostate, liver, womb and heart.
Compared to CT scans, MRI provides better contrast in images of soft tissues. However some patients feel uncomfortable with the loud sounds while lie in a long, confining tube.
The Field Cycling Imager derives from MRI but can work at ultra-low magnetic fields. It acts like multiple scanners in one providing different types of information about the nature of the tissue.
Dr Broche said: “My colleagues in the University of Aberdeen built the world’s first clinical MRI in the 1970s so it is both fitting and exciting that we are making waves again with an entirely new type of MRI. This is a truly exciting innovation and as we keep improving the technology the potential for clinical applications is limitless.”
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications Medicine, showed it worked on the first nine breast cancer patients it was used on.
This success with breast tissue follows earlier positive outcomes when the prototype was demonstrated to be effective in identifying brain damage due to stroke.
Co-investigator Dr Gerald Lip, consultant radiologist at NHS Grampian and President of the British Society of Breast Radiology, said: “This data is very promising, and we still need more prospective work, but these results will really support future clinical applications.
“We treat between 400 and 500 women with breast cancer in NHS Grampian every year and the potential this technology has to reduce the need for women to return for extra surgery is huge, benefiting them and reducing wait times and operating theatre resource. We hope it will have a future role in supporting cancer diagnosis and management.”
