The role of Kuopio as a competence cluster in the field of biomedical imaging is getting increasingly strong, thanks to the city being among the first in Finland to introduce simultaneous PET-MRI imaging.
Kuopio currently hosts the National Centre for Experimental Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and the city is one of the three locations in Finland where PET (Positron Emission Tomography) tracers are produced.
Professor Olli Gröhn from the University of Eastern Finland describes the infrastructure as unique even by national comparison. According to him, technology that combines different imaging methods is one the most rapidly advancing fields of biomedical imaging.
“Modern methods enable the imaging of tissue structures, metabolism and function without harming the target, be it a human or an animal,” Professor Gröhn says.
The new PET-MRI equipment will constitute part of the Biomedical Imaging Unit at the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences as well as Kuopio University Hospital, and it can also be used by companies, educational institutes and other private-sector actors. Indeed, there already are plans to conduct pilot projects in collaboration with companies, and the companies involved in the projects will also cover their share of the costs.
The price of the PET-MRI equipment is roughly 1.8 million euros, and the Liaison Committee for North Savo is in favour of supporting the purchase by approximately 1.3 million euros of ERDF funding.
For further information, please contact:
Professor Olli Gröhn, University of Eastern Finland, tel. +358 50 3590963, olli.grohn (at) uef.fi