Big Bang inspires new scanner

Thursday August 23rd, 2012

Europe's 'Big Bang' experiments may have inspired a leap forward in scanner technology, Norwegian researchers say.

Scientists at the University of Oslo have revealed their new combined PET/MRI scanner, inspired, they say, by the search for the Higgs Boson particle at Cern.

The scientists say they have doubled the sensitivity of their PET scanner - allowing radiation doses to be halved.

The tiny device can be placed inside an MRI machine - allowing simultaneous MRI and PET scans.

The device has been developed in the first instance for use in medical research - but its inventors say they believe it will have wider use.

It uses five layers of detectors made from new kinds of crystal and light guides.

The developers say there were inspired by the use of massive detectors at Cern to detect the tiniest particles known to man.

Researcher Erlend Bolle said: "In order to capture all the photons, we measure the position in three dimensions in a five-layer detector.

"We have managed to double the sensitivity. In practice, we can take the pictures twice as fast, or only use half of the radioactive dose in order to get the same image quality as previously."

Tags: Europe | General Health

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