Illuminating... Medical science

In the medical field, there are a number of scientists who are harnessing Diamond's powerful capabilities, with the help of samples that patients have donated for research into a variety of medical problems. Both the synchrotron machine and the patient input are key to these research areas. Diamond hopes that in the future more hospital based clinicians and medical researchers become aware of synchrotron experiments and we can grow our contribution to this field. While the language used by hospital clinicians and synchrotron experts is very different, the potential benefits of taking the time to learn from each other are high in terms of future medical advances.

Medical Case Study 1: Longer Lasting Hip Replacements

Alister Hart from Imperial College London has been using Diamond to study a new form of hip replacement. Sometimes these hip replacements fail, causing intense pain, and have to be removed. By studying samples of failed hip replacements and mapping where metals are deposited in the tissue, Alister hopes to understand why these hips fail and how they can be improved for the future.  >> Read more...

Medical Case Study 2: Lighting Up Metals In The Brain

Metal ions naturally exist in the brain, but the existence of metals in some critical regions has been linked to both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Joanna Collingwood from the University of Warwick has used Diamond to look at transition metals, such as iron, copper and zinc and observing very subtle changes in their distribution and form that might contribute to the disease process. >> Read more...