A physicist at the Royal Free Hospital has been awarded a £236,000 grant to carry out research using a revolutionary new scanner.

The positron emission tomography (PET) scanner creates a three-dimensional picture of the whole body in one go and allows doctors to see how tumours and organs are functioning.

Because the new machine, which was installed in March, can deliver a much lower dose of radiation to patients, while scanning faster and producing better quality images, it will allow new avenues of research using PET scans to be carried out for the first time.  

One trial already being considered is scanning healthy people at high risk of developing lung cancer as the low dose of radiation minimises the risk of harm.

The new scanner could also help determine whether colon polyps need to be removed. 

It is currently difficult to tell if they are cancerous or not and so the standard approach is to remove them. But the scanner – which is 11 times more sensitive than the latest standard machines – might be able to show whether the polyps are benign, saving patients from unnecessary procedures. 

As well as opening up new avenues of research, the lower dose of radiation means that pregnant women with cancer can also be scanned with low risk to them and their unborn child, helping doctors to make more informed decisions about the best course of action.

Beverley Holman PhD, diagnostic nuclear medicine and PET CT physics lead for the trust, received the senior clinical and practice research award from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).

The award enables Beverley to carry out research for two days a week over the next five years, starting in September. 

Beverley said: “Being able to do research using the new scanner was always our aim and there are so many potential applications for the scanner – the sky’s the limit. This is a hugely exciting time for this area of research and I’m delighted we’ve been given this funding.

“This is a chance for lots of people across the trust to get involved. It will also enable people in my team to take part in research with everyone working together to improve patient care.”

It is anticipated these research projects and many others could quickly lead to changes in current working practices across many departments.

The Royal Free London hosts one of the busiest cancer services in the NHS, receiving almost 50,000 referrals each year and cancer care forms a key pillar of the trust’s clinical vision.

Partnership working

Another area of interest are the radioactive biomarkers injected into patients which bind to cells inside the body. The plan is for new ‘tracers’ which could deliver better images and allow for more accurate diagnosis to be tested. UCL’s Radiochemistry Lab and UCL’s Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging have already agreed to collaborate to develop tracers for specific cancers or diseases and the first in human studies would take place at the Royal Free Hospital using the new PET scanner.

Beverley will also be working with the National PET imaging platform (NPIP). Launched in 2023 NPIP is the UK’s first-of-its-kind national total-body PET platform for drug discovery. As a collaborative partner to NPIP’s national network, the Royal Free London will conduct clinical and research work that can be shared with the network.