Astronomic savings for medical scanning
30 October 2008
Doctors are thanking their lucky stars due to a group of astronomers' prize-winning research. In a terrific tale of technology transfer, software created to study distant galaxies has been adapted to improve medical scanners - potentially saving hospitals millions of pounds.
Image: Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important piece of technology used by doctors to see inside the body. It is most commonly used for looking at the brain, spinal cord, heart, and joints such as ankles and knees.
Image: University of Edinburgh
But MRI images are easily blurred by movement, so patients have to stay very still. And as scans can last for up to half an hour, this is tricky for children or people who are unwell.
Currently 1 in 10 scans is blurred and has to be repeated, which wastes time and money, say the researchers. Re-scanning images costs each of the NHS's 250 MRI scanners around 120,000 pounds every year.
MRI scanners use a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed pictures of the body.
Image: Zephyr/Science Photo Library
How does the new software help?
'If a patient moves, the software calculates how far they've shifted and corrects for it. As a result, we can reduce the number of scans that patients need and shorten the waiting time for everyone.' Mark Bastin, MRI scanning expert, University of Edinburgh
The new software corrects for movement.
Image: University of Edinburgh
Astronomers originally developed the software to analyse the age and structure of stars in faraway galaxies. So how did the worlds of astronomy and medicine collide?
'We recognised that our software could be used in many different fields. We explored a few areas - like earthquake prediction and face recognition - before speaking to doctors at our university and realising it was perfect for use in MRI scanning.' Ben Panter, astronomer, University of Edinburgh
The software was created as part of a project to map a quarter of the night sky using this massive telescope in New Mexico.
Fermilab/Science Photo Library
The team were recently awarded a 25,000 pound prize for their achievements by the organisations that fund science and technology research in the UK.
When will we start seeing the benefits?
'We're going to use our prize money to get the software into MRI scanners all around the world. We're working with the manufacturers of the scanners at the moment, and hope to get it included within two years.' Ben Panter
Ben Panter, astronomer.
Image: Ben Panter