Precision imaging

Our experimental imaging platforms within the Imaging Research Unit offer cutting edge brain and whole body physiological and metabolic assessment during physiological and pharmacological challenges, postural changes and during anaesthesia in clinical research settings.

We are supporting complex and intense mechanistic studies in healthy volunteers using experimental medicine models and clinical populations. The main benefits will be comprehensive, serial assessment of multi-organ function (metabolism, haemodynamics, functional brain connectivity) in response to disease models and innovative treatments.

Examples include:

• A feasibility and protocol development clinical trial is starting to also assess the mechanistic and cognitive effects of connectivity-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation to improve cognitive decline in participants with multiple sclerosis. (Multiple Sclerosis UK and NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre funded)

• Next generation metabolic MR Imaging using deuterium MRSI (2H-MRSI with the potential to replace clinical PET-CT) to identify an early treatment response signature in brain cancer (PCNSL, brain metastasis and high-grade gliomas, funding applied for) to enable fast switching to alternative treatments in treatment non-responders.