Launch of new Total-Body PET scanner extends UK’s world-class imaging platform to Scotland
Published: 24 June 2025
Scotland’s first Total-Body PET scanner is now operational at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, benefitting patients locally and nationally, and helping to speed up diagnosis, treatment and clinical trials across the UK
Scotland’s first Total-Body PET scanner is now operational at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, benefitting patients locally and nationally, and helping to speed up diagnosis, treatment and clinical trials across the UK.
The ‘game-changing’ scanner is co-managed by the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh, delivered by the National PET Imaging Platform and run by the UK’s Medical Research Council, Innovate UK and Medicines Discovery Catapult.
Total-body PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanners are up to 40 times more sensitive, up to 10 times faster and can scan 50% more patients per day than existing machines. The new Scottish scanner is part of the National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP), a national imaging technology network which delivers this new and critical clinical infrastructure of scanners and allows clinicians, industry and researchers to collaborate on an international scale.
Now the scanner is operational, researchers hope it will help to improve patient care by adding further diagnostic capacity and enhancing cancer, cardiovascular, neurological and inflammatory disease diagnosis and treatment. It is hoped the technology will also help to attract industry to trial their newest drugs in the region, as well as inventors to develop and test world-class AI and diagnostics tools.
The first patients have already been through the scanner, taking part in research projects. John Cowan, a patient at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, commented on his experience of the total-body PET scanner. He said: “After coming into hospital with a stroke, the doctors could not tell me what had caused my stroke which was worrying for me.
“I seized the opportunity to volunteer to take part in a research project using the very latest total-body PET scanner and it was able to pinpoint exactly what had caused my stroke, where the blood clot had come from and what treatment I needed. I am delighted that this scan has given me peace of mind and ensured that I am on the right treatment.”
Dr David Lewis, University of Glasgow and Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute, Co-Director of the NPIP Scotland Centre, said: “Total-Body PET scanners are a quantum leap forward in medical imaging technology, and we are proud to be part of a pioneering partnership between the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and NHS Lothian, jointly managing one of the first of these cutting-edge scanners in the UK. The Scotland Total-Body PET scanner will serve as a catalyst for ground-breaking research and offers a unique window into our understanding of human diseases.”
Dr David Newby, University of Edinburgh, Co-Director of the NPIP Scotland Centre, said: “The NPIP Scotland Total-body PET Facility is a transformative technology that has already started to advance clinical research and patient care, improving our understanding of complex diseases. Through the NPIP network, new collaborative projects will address some of the major unmet health problems that society faces today, such as endometriosis and stroke.”
NPIP is funded by a £32m investment from the UKRI Infrastructure Fund. The UK is driving the adoption of Total-body PET technology through NPIP, which is a strategic concentration of clinical capability that attracts industry investment.
Science Minister, Lord Vallance, said: “Many of the great medical discoveries of the last century have roots in Scotland. Edinburgh’s new total body scanner will help more patients to live longer, healthier lives through earlier detection, faster diagnoses and more effective treatment in complex illnesses like cancer, dementia and heart disease for years to come.
“Backing our top researchers with cutting edge technology will be key to the next medical breakthroughs that improve lives and drive the economic growth at the heart of the UK Government’s Plan for Change.”
Celebrating the launch, Professor Chris Molloy, Chief Executive of Medicines Discovery Catapult, said: “The national platform we have created allows the combined power of technology and data to be harnessed, attracting industry to test their new treatments here in the UK for the benefit of our patients and our economy. It shows what’s possible when strategic public funding, clinical expertise, industry knowledge and academic excellence come together around a shared national purpose.
“These revolutionary scanners help save lives and create large-scale capability for radiopharmaceuticals and AI-enabling datasets.”
Dr Juliana Maynard, Director of Operations and Engagement, NPIP, said: “We see the NPIP network as both Critical and Clinical National Infrastructure; a connected nationwide network for data sharing, discovery and innovation we could only dream of a decade ago.
“Using these total-body PET scanners, we can observe disease in real time, across the entire body and now, throughout the entire country. That’s game-changing for drug discovery and treatment in the UK and, more importantly, for how quickly patients can benefit from it.
“Researchers will gain access to vastly improved clinical data, not only by tapping into the network for their own trials, but from every study connected to the platform. This will create an unprecedented level of collaboration in imaging, putting the UK on the world map as a centre of excellence.”
Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk
First published: 24 June 2025