Western Australia's medical innovation and research capabilities have received a substantial boost with $2.5 million from Lotterywest.
Health Minister Roger Cook presented the cheque today - injecting money into WA's National Imaging Facility Node to fund key equipment including state-of-the-art MRI and PET-CT scanners.
This new equipment will not only augment and replace ageing equipment - it will align WA's National Imaging Facility Node with others across Australia.
Three dedicated pieces of imaging equipment will be will be added to the Node:
- a new human 3T MRI facility;
- a new human PET-CT machine; and
- an upgraded preclinical 9.4T MRI and small animal imaging machine.
The scanners will cover a broad scope of diseases and treatment needs from paediatric to geriatric - from basic science through to clinical trials - and will be available to all WA researchers.
This work will impact all key medical fields - particularly oncology, neurology and cardiology but also neo-natal studies and studies into ageing.
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
"Western Australia is committed to expanding its human imaging research expertise and infrastructure and overcoming the obstacles sometimes faced in accessing imaging equipment outside of WA because of distance and costs.
"This Lotterywest grant will mean that dedicated human research imaging equipment is available to our medical researchers locally.
"Investment in this equipment is an investment to support, train and grow our local research community.
"But most importantly, research work conducted at Perth facilities will greatly improve outcomes for WA patients who will benefit from the very latest innovations in medical treatments without having to travel to the Eastern States or overseas."
