The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials, CIC biomaGUNE, is getting ready for the start-up of its new Molecular Imaging Unit, as they wait to receive the final authorisation from the regulatory bodies for it to begin working. This Unit, which is due to be inaugurated at the beginning of 2010, includes, among other equipment, the most advanced particle accelerator (cyclotron) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging infrastructure (MRI) in Spain.

The capacity of the infrastructure and its equipment is important, as it allows researchers to see the inside of the body in more detail, both the densest parts and the soft tissue. With this unit, CIC biomaGUNE is reinforcing its biomedical research capability, with multidisciplinary projects on the physiological changes that certain illnesses cause, evaluation of responses to different treatments or the development of new imaging diagnostic systems or new drugs.

The combination of the various different imaging techniques (all non-invasive) in a preclinical sphere will mean that significant advances can be made in the diagnosis and treatment of numerous pathologies such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ischemia or cancer. At CIC biomaGUNE, they explain that the development of new or improved imaging techniques to study the morphological features of the human body -and thereby the possible diseases that may occur- requires extensive preclinical studies with machines with large magnetic fields, before using them on people.

The concentration of infrastructure and specialised personnel in the same place gives them a competitive advantage, because “it allows us to address biological questions of several sorts by combining all the available imaging techniques and promoting the interactive participation of experts in diverse areas of knowledge that are traditionally separated”, to quote those in charge of the unit.

As well as its use for preclinical research, this infrastructure will enable the centre to manufacture radiopharmaceuticals to supply the Basque health network and neighbouring communities for diagnostic imaging tests in a number of hospitals.

The CIC biomaGUNE Molecular Imaging Unit has been financed by the Basque Government and the Gipuzkoa Regional Government, to the sum of more than 12 million euros, and is the only infrastructure in the Basque Country to appear on the Spanish Map of Singular Scientific and Technological Infrastructures (ICTS).