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The challenge of observing complex industrial processes in optically opaque machinery has limited the potential for optimising efficiency and throughput. The technique of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT), conceived and developed by David Parker and colleagues in Physics, over comes this barrier offering a paradigm shift for studying flows in realistic industrial plant and for validating computational models of flow. As a result of this transformative work, industry has improved the design of key plant for companies such as Procter and Gamble and Johnson Matthey Catalysts. In addition to a continuing programme of studies at Birmingham, PEPT measurements are now performed at the University of Bergen and at the iThemba National Lab in South Africa, where since 2009 a PEPT facility has been developed in collaboration with Birmingham with funding from AngloPlatinum, which has had significant impact on improving mineral processing on an industrial scale.
Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are two of the most powerful clinical imaging tools. They provide complementary information that is used in the diagnosis of many diseases and in assessing the effect of current and new therapies. Researchers at King's College London, in an international collaboration, demonstrated for the first time the simultaneous acquisition of PET and MR data and the application of the technique in preclinical models. Simultaneous PET-MR systems significantly improve the quality of patient care by allowing both PET and MR examinations to be performed in a single scanning session and by reducing radiation exposure by a factor of two. This pioneering work has led to clinical whole body simultaneous PET-MR systems recently becoming commercially available and there are currently around 40 PET-MR scanners installed in clinical/research institutions worldwide.