Research agreement extended

The signing of the Agreement builds on a wellestablished research relationship with the Imaging Sciences Department. The Department already has a Philips 3T scanner and a Philips 1.5T scanner; under the new Agreement, they will be purchasing a second 3T system and replacing the existing 1.5T system with a new state-of-the-art 1.5T Philips Achieva MRI scanner.

The second 3T system will be installed inside the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Hammersmith Hospital, where it replaces a prototype neonatal MR system that has for some years been the only dedicated neonatal MRI in the world. The new 3T system will be the first high-field MR system dedicated to work with this vulnerable patient group, and will allow the Hammersmith team to use its extensive skills in the imaging of babies weighing as little as 600 grams.

The partnership established between Philips and Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital and the Medical Research Council will allow advanced clinical imaging for newborn infants, but in addition will be at the centre of a research programme in neonatal medicine and imaging science, the first project being an MRC-funded study of drugs to prevent brain damage in pre-terminfants.