While many of our scheduled events have already been the victims of adverse weather conditions across the UK this winter, one notable survivor was the workshop looking at novel imaging technologies in regenerative medicine. Held on November 24th, just before the major snowfalls, this event was held in collaboration with two key organizations in the field: the newly opened Clinical Research Imaging Centre based at Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, and the Scottish Imaging Network, SINAPSE.

Both of these organizations are at the forefront of imaging technology and working with them on this workshop enabled us to examine the innovative imaging techniques that are being developed in regenerative medicine, to support both fundamental research and clinical testing and validation. This was summarized in a scene setting session in the morning. Prof David Wyper, Director of SINAPSE, presented an overview of his Network’s research activities, primarily in neurosciences across the Scottish Universities. SINAPSE supports professorial and research posts in imaging, radiology, informatics and medical physic and its technology focus provides the neurosciences community with a valuable resource with which to strengthen its strategic position. This was demonstrated by Professor Keith Muir, SINAPSE Chair of Clinical Imaging at the University of Glasgow, who is involved with the current safety trial of a stem cell therapy for stroke. This trial, led by ReNeuron, requires sensitive imaging techniques to assess where the stem cells need to be injected into the damaged area of the brain and to what extent they persist post-injection. To do this, innovative imaging technology has had to be developed in Glasgow, and the audience was very privileged to be shown the first brain scan of the first stroke patient to receive stem cells.

Dr Jeremy Cobbold of Imperial College London, presented their most recent work on imaging liver disease, especially focused on how responses to treatment and repair might be assessed. This held particular resonance for Stuart Forbes and John Iredale’s groups working on regenerative therapies for liver disease in Edinburgh and productive discussions followed over a networking break.

The afternoon session consisted of technology rich presentations in all aspects of regenerative medicine research. GE Healthcare presented their high content analysis platform which is proving successful in monitoring embryonic stem cell differentiation and assessing how ES cell derived cardiomyocytes could function as models for early drug discovery.

Professor Neil Roberts gave an overview of the Clinical Research Imaging Centre which is a partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the University Hospitals Division of Lothian NHS Board. Perhaps most dramatically, he produced a model of his own right brain from his pocket, constructed from MRI and other imaging techniques. Colleagues with the University of Edinburgh, Dr Andy Downes and Dr Philip Holland, gave detailed accounts of how these technologies are being developed to analyse stem cell function and to assess cerebrovascular risk factors in the brain respectively. These presentations, across several research and technology disciplines, gave a strong indication of how they would come together as stem cell based, regenerative therapies moved from bench to bedside.

Overall, key discussion point was around how imaging data would be required in regulatory processes and validation of such therapies in the future. It was clear that in addition to the technological challenges of imaging, tracking and storing image data at the research and development stages, a key challenge of getting therapies into general clinical usage would be setting appropriate imaging requirements for specific therapies. In forthcoming SSCN events, such as the Quality Management workshop being held with Nexxus on February 24th 2011, we expect to take up this discussion.