One of only seven PET-MR scanners in the UK has begun operating at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, as part of a multi-million pound project with a major focus on dementia research, described by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) as ‘a pivotal moment for imaging at Manchester’.
The GE Healthcare scanner was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the Dementias Platform UK initiative, and will enable enhanced dementia research. As a DPUK partner, Manchester University is becoming involved in multi-centre trials into dementia, and a number of exciting imaging studies have already been funded to use the scanner. The project also funded refurbishment of a shelled space adjacent to the Nuclear Medicine Department, with the space designed specifically for dementia patients, including via the inventive use of colour.
The facility housing the SIGNA PET-MR scanner was built by MTX, with the scanner accommodated in a dedicated suite which also houses three treatment rooms, a research office, consulting, radiopharmacy, and equipment rooms, and a control room. As part of its work, MTX had to reinforce the existing flooring to enable it to hold the 13-tonne scanner, while delivering the unit saw it devise a solution that saw a set of rear access doors removed. The suite was built with an access hatch in one wall to get the scanner in, and a steel magnetic shield incorporated into the brickwork. Once the scanner was in position and the magnetic shield tested, the wall was built back up with reinforced concrete and steel shielding.
Other challenges MTX faced included noise pollution and radiation. The scanner suite is surrounded by administration offices and treatment rooms, and was thus built with 10,000 high density blocks, lead protection, and ground insulation, to protect the surrounding environment. A copper RF cage prevents interference from radio or mobile signals. The equipment room required specialist chillers due to the high heat gains during scanning.