Geneva, 14 December 2009 Medical studies are soon to start with the MARS scanner, a revolutionary CT scanner developed by the University of Canterbury1, New Zealand. The scanner, which incorporates technology developed at the world’s leading particle physics research centre, CERN2, was recently shipped to research partners in North America. Today a student from Canterbury arrives in North America to use the scanner to study heart disease. This development puts the technology, known as Medipix3, firmly on the path to saving lives.

Using technology developed for the Large Hadron Collider, the Medipix detector has shown to have many more uses than just high-energy physics. The new scanner will be used in research to better understand deadly conditions such as heart disease. This is the first stage in an ongoing collaboration with leading research institutions around the world including CERN, the Czech Technical University, and the universities of Canterbury and Otago.

Dr Michael Campbell, spokesman for the Medipix collaborations, said: “It was requirements of the Large Hadron Collider which led to the development of the technology. The Medipix collaborations have adapted the technology to create new detectors which fundamentally change how x-ray images are taken and used.” 

Professor Rolf Heuer, CERN Director General, said: “Basic science is the ultimate driver of innovation – without it there is no science to apply. This is a great example of that process in action.”

Source: CERN Website