First UK patients benefitting from revolutionary new scanner

20th May 2024

The new £8 million positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, which has been newly installed at the Royal Free Hospital by Integrated Health Project (IHP) the joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine, has welcomed its first patients in the UK.

The revolutionary new scanner will deliver a more accurate and faster diagnosis and is 11 times more sensitive than the latest standard machines, which means patients are exposed to half as much radiation and can be scanned at least twice as quickly, allowing them to receive a diagnosis and start life-saving treatment sooner.

In June 2023, IHP were appointed to undertake works at The Royal Free Hospital which included a scanner room, control room, equipment room, drawing up room consent room, and two hot toilets. Internal walls to six offices were demolished to form one open L shape space, whilst all being undertaken in a live nuclear medicine department with pharmacist laboratories.

The scanner, which weighs approximately six tonnes, meant the team had to install a supporting steel structure below the floor to take the weight of the machine. The floor walls and ceilings were lined with lead ranging from 3mm thick up to 22mm thick, with one of the walls weighing approximately five tonnes. The works were meticulously planned, with the machine delivered successfully on 26th January 2024.

Tom Beaton, VINCI Building’s Project Manager said: “This has been a challenging milestone, and I cannot thank the Royal Free London’s Sim Suite staff, the Radio Pharmacy staff and Royal Free London’s Project Staff for being so amazing.

“The new machine will open up new opportunities for research, to improve understanding of cancers and other diseases and the best way to treat them. Well done to the whole team”.

VINCI Building’s Regional Director, Paul Tumelty said: "At VINCI Building our purpose is to contribute our engineering and construction expertise to improve the lives of the people who live and work in our communities.

“I am very proud of Tom and the team for delivering the first PET Scanner facility in the country, enabling more effective treatment and diagnosis for cancer patients. This project adds to the legacy of works we have contributed at the Royal Free Hospital and further enhances the long-standing relationship.”

The new scanner, funded by the Royal Free Charity, is called a long axial field of view or LAFOV. It is also known as a Total Body PET scanner. Because it is much more sensitive than the trust’s current scanner, it allows clinicians to take an image in a much shorter length of time.

The Royal Free London hosts one of the busiest cancer services in the NHS, receiving almost 50,000 referrals each year and cancer care forms a key pillar of the trust’s clinical strategy. Once the new equipment is up and running, it will speed up scanning time from 20 to five minutes, freeing up capacity to see more patients in a matter of days of referral, rather than weeks.

Peter Landstrom, chief executive of the Royal Free London, said: “I’m delighted that the first patients are now receiving their scans. It will mean patients can be seen faster with less exposure to radiation.

“We have one of the largest cancer services in the country and the Total Body PET scanner will open up new avenues of research and allow us to develop ever more effective new treatments.

“Huge thanks should go to Royal Free Charity and its generous donors for making this possible.”

Notes

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scanner

PET scans, which are carried out by the nuclear medicine team, create three-dimensional pictures of parts of the body. Patients are given a mildly radioactive solution, which is then absorbed by the part of the body that doctors wish to look at. This radioactive material lights up in the scan, allowing doctors to see how the patient’s tumour or part of the body is functioning.

For patients with cancer, understanding more about how a tumour functions means they can receive more effective treatments. A PET scan is used as part of a suite of diagnostic tools that help doctors determine the best treatment for each patient.

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