UT researchers commissioned by Philips to start designing a new type of PET scanner
02.04.2007
In the framework of the project, researchers at the Institute of Physics will be investigating new light-emitting materials. The final aim of the project is to build the prototype of a new type of positron emission tomography scanner (PET-scanner) that would enable an improvement of the quality of the PET image, reduce the patients’ exposure to irradiation and increase the availability of PET-scanning technology all over the world.
“We are looking here at a solution that contributes to the competitiveness of the field of high-tech medicine across Europe,” Dr. Marco Kirm, Research Director of UT Institute of Physics explained. “The new scanner will not simply provide a visual image of the interior of a patient’s body, but will also assist doctors in diagnosing the functioning of the body’s organs. In this way the functionality of the scanners will be enhanced and, ultimately, their cost for the health care system will drop,” he added.
The Europe-wide project is led by the research labs of the Philips group; in addition to UT researchers, the consortium includes scientists from the Universities of Utrecht and Leiden, as well as those of the national research centres at Jülich (Germany), Bordeaux (France) and Bologna (Italy).
In addition to the above, the University of Tartu continues its collaboration with the Samsung SDI group in the field of advancing the technology of plasma displays. In addition to meeting Samsung SDI’s applied interests, the project has given rise to a considerable body of highly interesting research articles which have been published in the world’s leading applied physics journals.
In the current stages of collaboration, researchers will focus on implementing the ideas that were generated in the course of performing work under the previous R&D agreement and are expected to lead to improvements in the materials used in manufacturing plasma displays.
According to Dr. Kirm, the laboratory equipment and infrastructure of the UT Institute of Physics, which have benefitted from investments amounting to 20m Estonian kroon in recent years, as well as the various technologies used in manufacturing the materials investigated, but above all the high level of competence evidenced by the Institute’s researchers, continue to attract the interest of Samsung SDI’s working group on the development of electronic materials.
Additional information: Dr. Marco Kirm, Research Director of the UT Institute of Physics, phone +372 737 4603, e-mail: %20marco [dot] kirm [ät] ut [dot] ee%20">marco [dot] kirm [ät] ut [dot] ee
Anneli Maaring,
Press Officer
University of Tartu
phone +372 737 5683; +372 515 0184
%20anneli [dot] maaring [ät] ut [dot] ee%20">anneli [dot] maaring [ät] ut [dot] ee
/64160
“We are looking here at a solution that contributes to the competitiveness of the field of high-tech medicine across Europe,” Dr. Marco Kirm, Research Director of UT Institute of Physics explained. “The new scanner will not simply provide a visual image of the interior of a patient’s body, but will also assist doctors in diagnosing the functioning of the body’s organs. In this way the functionality of the scanners will be enhanced and, ultimately, their cost for the health care system will drop,” he added.
The Europe-wide project is led by the research labs of the Philips group; in addition to UT researchers, the consortium includes scientists from the Universities of Utrecht and Leiden, as well as those of the national research centres at Jülich (Germany), Bordeaux (France) and Bologna (Italy).
In addition to the above, the University of Tartu continues its collaboration with the Samsung SDI group in the field of advancing the technology of plasma displays. In addition to meeting Samsung SDI’s applied interests, the project has given rise to a considerable body of highly interesting research articles which have been published in the world’s leading applied physics journals.
In the current stages of collaboration, researchers will focus on implementing the ideas that were generated in the course of performing work under the previous R&D agreement and are expected to lead to improvements in the materials used in manufacturing plasma displays.
According to Dr. Kirm, the laboratory equipment and infrastructure of the UT Institute of Physics, which have benefitted from investments amounting to 20m Estonian kroon in recent years, as well as the various technologies used in manufacturing the materials investigated, but above all the high level of competence evidenced by the Institute’s researchers, continue to attract the interest of Samsung SDI’s working group on the development of electronic materials.
Additional information: Dr. Marco Kirm, Research Director of the UT Institute of Physics, phone +372 737 4603, e-mail: %20marco [dot] kirm [ät] ut [dot] ee%20">marco [dot] kirm [ät] ut [dot] ee
Anneli Maaring,
Press Officer
University of Tartu
phone +372 737 5683; +372 515 0184
%20anneli [dot] maaring [ät] ut [dot] ee%20">anneli [dot] maaring [ät] ut [dot] ee
/64160