£2m plea for ‘future of medical imaging’ in region moves closer

AN APPEAL to raise £2m so a state-of-the-art scanner described as “the future of medical imaging” can be brought to Yorkshire is a quarter of the way to reaching the funding milestone.

The University of Sheffield launched the £2m fundraising campaign in March to bring the first MRI-PET scanner, which would be one of only eight in the country and provide the most detailed images from inside the human body, to the region.

Officials say the technology uses whole body Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography and could enhance understanding of serious conditions like Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease.

The new scanner would be installed at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, where it is hoped it will provide doctors with a more precise and accurate assessment of serious conditions.

After reaching the £500,000 mark, the university is asking people in the city to support the campaign.

Later this month it is hosting The Big Walk 2017: 50 miles in 24 hours walking challenge, where more than 270 staff, students, alumni and friends will try to walk as far as they can along a circular 50-mile route.

Marie Hezseltine, a financial support officer at the university who lost her father and sister-in-law to cancer, said: “It is so important for Sheffield to have its own scanner.”