HRH Prince William Opens Europe’s Paediatric Intra-operative 3-T MRI Scanner at Alder Hey

New Technology and Techniques Creates New Frontiers and Endless Possibilities for Children in UK and beyond

22^nd February 2010

His Royal Highness Prince William visited Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool today to formally open the intra-operative 3-T MRI facility, a ‘European-First’ for paediatric intra-operative imaging and one of only two such facilities for children in the world.  He also met patients and their families on the neurosurgical unit. His Royal Highness was also presented with a commemorative painting by children of Alder Hey – this task was admirably performed by 7-year old Sion Meredith, one of the first patients to benefit from the high-field scanner and intra-operative navigation technology.

Robert Craig, age 12, meets Prince William on the neurosurgery ward

In October 2007 Alder Hey’s charity the Imagine Appeal secured a donation of £3million from the Barclay Foundation to fund a 3-Tesla MRI scanner, the largest single donation received by the Trust.

This high-resolution magnetic imaging – supplied by Philips Healthcare - combined with an adjacent state of the art theatre featuring BrainLab image guided navigation systems - enables scans to be carried out in the operating theatre during surgery.  This provides the surgeon with highly accurate, real-time information used for navigation and updates on progress. 

This is the first such installation dedicated to paediatrics in Europe and among many features will allow:

·               surgeons to safely and completely remove tumours - significantly increasing survival rates in brain tumour cases

·               much more precise surgery - minimising the potential side effects of operations where millimetres matter

·               reduction in time, and number of times, children have to be anaesthetized and operated on

·               minimizing of the exposure to radiation in children who need multiple scans during their care and treatment.

Acting Chief Executive Dr. Steve Ryan said “We are tremendously excited by the potential for this outstanding facility which is one of only two dedicated paediatric units in the world.

We pride ourselves in offering world-class care and this is the newest application to further push the boundaries in both diagnostics and neurosurgery.

Alder Hey’s Radiology department is already nationally recognized and is the preferred provider of paediatric imaging services for Cheshire, Merseyside and beyond.  As well as the combined benefits of the intra-operative facility – which is of particular value in neurosciences - the 3-T MRI facility will extend many further benefits including Lesional Epilepsy diagnosis and possible corrective surgery for this debilitating condition.”

The Barclay Foundation, set up by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, made the new facility possible with a major donation of £3million in Autumn 2007.  This followed the generous £2.25million donation in 2004 made via their company Littlewoods, which allowed Alder Hey to build the dedicated Littlewoods Paediatric Neurosciences Unit which is today Department of Health nominated National Centre for children with brain and spinal conditions.

Chair of the Imagine Appeal, Jim Davies added  “This is a great day for both Alder Hey and the Imagine Appeal where we have been able to share the vision of both the hospital and our benefactors with His Royal Highness. 

This fantastic facility, one of only two in the world, will allow Alder Hey to make ground breaking advances in the care and treatment of children and young people with serious and life threatening conditions.”  

Spokesman for The Barclay Foundation, Aidan Barclay added, “We are both delighted and honoured through the purchase of this advanced scanning equipment to have the opportunity to play a small part, together with the staff, nurses and doctors to help improve the lives of the many children who pass through Alder Hey.  This is a very worthwhile institution to support”.