St Thomas’ Hospital to get state-of-the-art MRI scanner

A state-of-the-art ultra-high field MRI machine is set to transform clinical research at St Thomas’ Hospital, where a new clinical imaging research facility will be created to support its use.

The 20-ton scanner will allow world-leading scientists to increase the understanding of a wide range of conditions and ultimately improve patient care. Research will focus on neurological, heart and musculoskeletal conditions, as well as cancer and diseases affecting babies and children.

The 7 tesla (T) MRI scanner MAGNETOM Terra operates with a very strong 7T magnet, compared with the normal 1.5T or 3T magnets used in most scanners. The higher magnetic field results in much more detailed, higher quality images which can detect the more subtle changes diseases cause in the body.

Joseph Hajnal, lead researcher, said: “The 7T MRI scanner will offer enormous potential for research and investigation into a wide range of conditions. The new facility is truly collaborative and will be made available to all of the best researchers across London who are doing exciting work. It will bring together London’s high concentration of world-leading researchers, expertise from the city’s many national medical centres and a huge patient group living in the capital.

“The scanner is a real powerhouse and will be one of only a few in the UK used to research many different conditions in an integrated way between several organisations. We expect that using it will lead to many benefits for patients, including faster diagnosis and more targeted treatments. If research shows that it does then in future it will be used for patients in clinical settings, as well as for research. The new research facility is expected to build on the world-class research taking place in London and will benefit the whole of our city.”