TWENTY-FIVE years ago, Aberdeen scientists became the first in the world to scan the body with pioneering technology.

The technology—Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)—is now used routinely throughout the world.

Now Aberdeen University experts have been given £2.5 million to develop a new scanner with the potential to revolutionise the MRI for the 21st century.

It is hoped the new machinery will lead to a better understanding of key diseases, more rapid and accurate diagnosis, and eventually pave the way for new treatments.

The money has come from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and it is expected to take four years to complete.

Professor David Lurie, chairman in biomedical physics at the university, said the new technology could have a major impact on diseases and disorders including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

“We are tremendously excited about the potential for this scanner which uses new technology called Fast Field-Cycling MRI,” he said.

“It is a bit like having at our disposal a hundred or more MRI scanners, each one operating at a different magnetic field, but all in the one scanner.

“The big advantage is that the new scanner will produce images of the body that will tell clinicians important information about disease processes at a much earlier stage.”

The university’s Institute of Medical Sciences has world-leading research teams in each of the diseases, and the lead scientists are closely involved with the new MRI research.

The new scanner is also expected to be used in the study of thrombosis.