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A collaborative research project between the Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London (KCL) and Philips Healthcare has devised methods to register (i.e. align or match) pre-operative 3D computed tomography (CT) images to intraoperative 2D X-ray images, resulting in more accurate and robust registration/alignment measures. The measures can be applied directly to images from standard X-ray machines, allowing for rapid translation to guide surgical procedures and radiotherapy. These measures (or close variants) are used routinely in commercial products by Accuray, Philips Healthcare and Cydar Ltd (KCL spinout), benefitting the care of hundreds of patients worldwide, every day.
We have developed a new technique of performing cardiac catheterisation in children and adults with congenital heart disease. This has led to the commercialisation of hybrid MRI and X-ray cardiac catheterisation laboratories, a new scientific technique for studying cardiac physiology and pathology and most importantly is being routinely used in clinical practice as it dramatically reduces X-ray radiation exposure (by a factor of 8) and improves the accuracy of physiological measurements leading to better clinical decision making and impact.
Imaging speed is of critical importance in most Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging applications. King's College London (KCL) researchers have developed spatiotemporal undersamplings, or "k-t" methods, for three-dimensional (3D) imaging and corresponding image reconstruction methods that have increased the speed of imaging significantly, so that particular scans are now 5-7 fold faster. This has directly impacted the experience of the patient whose overall examination time has been reduced from more than 1 hour to less than 30 minutes depending on the application. The technology has been patented and has been implemented by Philips Healthcare, one of the three major manufacturers of MR equipment. A clinical solution platform for 3D MR cardiac perfusion and quantitative flow imaging, based on the technology developed at KCL, has also been launched by the Swiss company, GyroTools LLC.
UCL's research has led to changes in patient care for men with prostate cancer, through the implementation of less invasive, image-directed treatment and diagnostic strategies, and clinical trials that use these techniques. The use of medical image registration software to deliver high- intensity ultrasound therapy in a targeted manner has been shown to change the treatment plan in half of the patients participating in a clinical study. New biopsy criteria are now used routinely to classify patient risk at University College Hospital, where, since 2009, clinicians have determined the treatment options for more than 741 prostate cancer patients. The scheme has been adopted, by 15 other hospitals in the UK and internationally, where it has become the recommended standard of care, and has been used to treat more than 1,200 patients.
Key advances in the earlier diagnosis of cancer, leading to better treatment and higher survival rates, have resulted from the commercialisation of unique imaging software that exploits research from the Department of Engineering Science. The software products that came from this research, Volpara™, XD and XRT are now used at major cancer centres worldwide (with approximately 1100 software installations), aiding treatment of tens of thousands of patients every year. Between 2009 and July 2013, Volpara™ scanned over 1.2 million mammograms, enabling the early detection of around 1800 cancers. The products' success has catalysed significant improvements in cancer care, and generated an estimated £9M in sales over the past two years for the spinout companies established to develop them (Matakina, based in New Zealand, and Mirada Medical, based in the UK).
Radiation physicists at the University of Surrey developed a unique X-ray imaging technology for high-speed real-time tomography (RTT) during 1997 to 2005. The originating research developed new X-ray methods for tomographic imaging of multiphase flow in pipes. RTT was then applied to security X-ray imaging, specifically the high-speed screening of aircraft passenger baggage. As a direct result of the research, a spin-out company from the University, CXR Ltd, was formed, and it was later acquired by Rapiscan Systems.
Surrey's imaging technology is now approved for use for automated explosives detection in the European aviation sector. In 2009, a prototype high-speed baggage system was trialled at Manchester Airport, which resulted in certification in 2012. The research has made a significant economic impact by leading to technology that created jobs in a purpose-built factory.
Maple is a major commercial computer algebra system, with millions of users worldwide. It is used in many industrial applications, covering diverse sectors including automotive, aerospace and defense, electronics, energy, financial services, consumer products, entertainment, basic research and teaching. Research by Davenport's team at Bath, in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario, has led to algorithmic advances that have been incorporated in recent releases of Maple. These advances mean that Maple can solve systems of equations it could not previously solve, give completely accurate solutions to systems it could previously only approximate, and can present the solutions to the user in an improved manner.
As well as including code written at Bath directly in Maple, MapleSoft have deployed a Senior Developer to integrate the work of Davenport's team closely into the Maple system. These solution algorithms are now transparently available to all users of Maple. MapleSoft themselves have used the solution algorithms in an industrial application in a consultancy project with a major Japanese automotive manufacturer.
The University of Southampton's distinguished body of work on the design of technology for gamma-ray detection and imaging has informed new counter-terrorism practices. Technological advances arising from the research have been crucial to delivering significant benefits in the fields of homeland security and nuclear safety — the latter particularly in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. A spin-out company, Symetrica, currently employs 26 people in the UK and the USA, has a forecast turnover of more than £10 million for 2013-14 and has been recognised as an example of best practice. It is a technological leader in the field of radioactive isotope identification.
Space science and medicine share a fundamental requirement for radiation sensors of the highest possible sensitivity. The development of imaging detectors for major X-ray observatories such as the European XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra provided the impetus for a broad-based, intensive programme of deliberate technology transfer from the Unit's Space Research Centre (SRC) into the life sciences and medicine. The resulting impact now extends far beyond the exploratory provision of prototype sensor technologies for biomedical researchers into the full-scale commercial exploitation of those technologies with industry partners in the UK and Europe and, in three separate cases, to early-stage patient trials. Impact is being delivered in clinical specialisms from oncology to ophthalmology; from neurotoxicology to emergency medicine. The impact delivery mechanisms — the hospital-based Diagnostics Development Unit (DDU) and the campus-based Bioimaging Unit — are themselves novel and have achieved national prominence as examples of best practice in the drive for economic return even from established blue skies research.
Research at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng) has enabled accurate positioning to be added to 2D freehand ultrasound probes to enable the acquisition of large coherent blocks of high-resolution 3D ultrasound image data. The software code base developed in the DoEng was licensed to two separate companies, Schallware and MedaPhor, to enable them each to develop an ultrasound training product. Both companies have sold to more than 30 customers worldwide during the REF impact period; the Cambridge software had a key role in contributing to the innovation and quality of the products developed by both companies, and significantly increased the speed at which they were able to bring these products to market.