Chapel Allerton Hospital

Integral to the Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit are the clinical research facilities. The LMBRU Imaging Centre, located in the newly refurbished Ward 6, First Floor at Chapel Allerton Hospital, has been funded through a capital grant from the NIHR.

Imaging facilities include the following:

(i) 3T MR

The centre piece of the Imaging Centre is the 3.0 Tesla MRI system with 32 receiver channels, rapid switching gradients and musculoskeletal imaging radiofrequency coils. This will allow the latest imaging techniques to be utilised, for example ultrashort echo time imaging and diffusion weighted imaging.

(ii) Ultrasound

‘State of the art’ ultrasound facilities are available including two dedicated ultrasound rooms housing a new stand alone GE E9 platform as well as a portable GE Voluson i machine (with new HiRes software). Both machines employ high frequency transducers with 3D capabilities and are linked to PACS. New software is currently being trialled to allow quantification of Doppler images particularly using the 3D technology. The E9 is linked to a global positioning ‘virtual navigator’ apparatus enabling mapping of US images on to MRI and CT images.

The LMBRU also hosts a state of the art motion analysis laboratory located in the outpatients department at Chapel Allerton Hospital. The lab is equipped with an 8 camera digital Vicon system, multiple force platforms and facilities for pressure evaluations and electronic motion tracking.

For more information, please contact Anne-Maree Keenan, Assistant Director of the LMBRU.