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Research in Scotland

Imaging Capability

Scotland was the birthplace of medical ultrasound imaging and MRI and works hard to maintain its position of excellence. SINAPSE, a partnership of six Scottish Universities - Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, St Andrews and Stirling - make best use of Scottish facilities and expertise in medical imaging and develop skills for the next generation of professionals working in this field.

Scottish researchers have access to all imaging modalities, and from August 2016 one of the world’s most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines will be located in Glasgow. The University of Glasgow, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Siemens, the scanner manufacturer, have joined forces to bring an advanced 7-Tesla (7T) scanner to the city, along with a smaller, top of the range 3T machine. The 7T scanner will be installed in the new Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE) Building at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Particular strengths are:

  • Radio-pharmacy - experts in the development of PET tracers work alongside chemistry colleagues from Scottish pooling group, SCOTCHEM
  • Development of novel MRI techniques – including metabolic MRI, MRI elastography and resting connectivity MRI
  • Networking and quality assurance for multi-centre studies
  • Comprehensive training programme in medical imaging
  • Leading researchers in brain, cardiovascular, pulmonary and oncology imagine.

A range of leading edge research programmes are underway in Scotland including GOLD, where a new imaging technique has been developed to identify the penumbra of salvageable brain tissue in stroke victims.

Scotland has leading researchers in brain, cardiovascular, pulmonary and oncology imaging and a comprehensive training programme in medical imaging.