Robarts to be home to Canada’s first MPI system
Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) – considered the most promising and emerging imaging technology of the past 20 years – is coming to Western University.
Western’s acquisition of MPI system technology was announced yesterday at the 2018 World Molecular Imaging Conference in Seattle, Washington.
The MPI system will be housed at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry’s Robarts Research Institute and will serve as the technological talisman for molecular and cellular imaging scientists at Robarts and bacteriologists, virologists and immunologists in Schulich Medicine & Dentistry’s Department of Microbiology & Immunology.
“MPI technology is expected to change the landscape of modern medical imaging,” says Marlys Koschinsky, Scientific & Executive Director, Robarts Research Institute. “And this acquisition further solidifies Robarts Research Institute as one of the world’s leading imaging research centres of excellence.”
MPI is an innovative, ultrasensitive imaging modality that directly detects iron oxide nanoparticle tracers using magnetic fields.
“Our microbiology, immunology and molecular imaging researchers are excited to apply MPI to developing the next generation of therapies for diseases caused by antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, HIV and Zika virus,” says Eric Arts, Chair of Microbiology & Immunology and the Principal Investigator at Western’s Imaging Pathogens for Knowledge Translation (ImPaKT) Facility. “MPI will also open new avenues to study cancer, inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and stem cell-based regenerative medicine.”
