Crossing disciplinary boundaries:
From gamma-ray bursts to mammography
This technology is now also bringing huge benefits to mammography technology and could have groundbreaking implications for research on Alzheimer's disease.
The SWIFT satellite (Illustration: NASA)
In the 1980s Norwegian researchers developed a detector technology that was used on the Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) from 1989 to 2000. CERN is the world's largest research centre in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry.
The scientists soon discovered that the technology could be transferred to other areas of use, and in particular provided good digital x-ray images. The company Ideas ASA was founded to exploit the commercial potential in this area.
One of the company's first customers was the US space research giant NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which wanted to use the technology in a satellite built to study gamma-ray bursts in the universe. The Swift satellite was launched in 2004 and is still in operation.
Discovering small tumours
Gunnar Mæhlum (Photo: Gamma Medica-Ideas)
Gamma Medica-Ideas (the successor to Ideas ASA) has also employed the technology to develop digital gamma-ray mammography cameras for use in detecting tumours.
"The advantage of our camera is that it is specifically designed for this purpose. The camera is smaller than a portable computer and can be placed closer to the breast than conventional mammography apparatuses. The camera is more sensitive, particularly to small tumours, and can thus detect certain malignant tumours at an earlier stage," says Gunnar Mæhlum, Vice President of Research at Gamma Medica-Ideas.
A supplement to conventional technology
Mæhlum emphasises that their mammography cameras are not a substitute for conventional mammography. "They are intended as a supplement. Our cameras are most suited to women with high breast tissue density."
Women who undergo mammography using a gamma camera must first be injected with a harmless radioactive substance. This combines into molecules which travel to areas of high metabolic activity, such as malignant tumours. It is then easy to use the images to identify possible tumours. So far, Gamma Medica-Ideas has delivered one mammography camera to Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, one to Italy and two to the USA.
(Photo: Gamma Medica-Ideas)
New possibilities for Alzheimer's research
Gamma Medica-Ideas recently received an honourable mention at a design competition organised by NASA for the development of a nuclear detector that could have groundbreaking implications for research on Alzheimer's disease.
"The detector will be used inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and will be a supplement to MRI. With MRI it is possible to get a good image of the anatomy, and with the new detector we also get an image of the metabolic processes. In this way we obtain a more complete picture of the processes going on in the brain," explains Mæhlum.
"At present the technology is only being tested on animals, but the aim is to refine it for use on people," says Mæhlum and underlines the fact that the project would not have been possible without the original detector technology of the 1980s.
X-rays for a better environment
The company is also focusing efforts on developing an imaging technology to be used in connection with recycling of waste. The objective is to achieve a simpler, more effective system for sorting waste.
"Nowadays procedures for sorting waste are far too labour-intensive. Everything from cars to electronic scrap is chopped up into small pieces and mixed together. We are developing a system in which colour x-ray technology can be used to separate the different waste materials from one another," says Mæhlum. The recycling process will be completely automated and robot-driven.
Continuing space research
But space research is still a key area for scientists at Gamma Medica-Ideas. They have recently delivered gamma-ray measuring equipment to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). "This is a more advanced measuring device than we have supplied previously. The equipment will be used by the European-Japanese space probe Bepi Colombo which is to be sent to the planet Mercury."
"Our company combines basic research, technology development and commercial activity. Without basic research in astrophysics and high energy physics we would not have been able to develop our commercial products. The core of our products is gamma-ray detection. This is an area where we quite clearly benefit from development projects within basic research," states Mæhlum.
"The combination of basic research and development of commercial products is an effective way of achieving results," he asserts. "We must always guarantee our products to the customers in terms of both quality and delivery. So we have become good at getting things right the first time," explains Mæhlum.
Support from the Research Council of Norway
Gamma Medica-Ideas has received research funding from the Research Council for its development work for many years.
The ongoing project on developing a nuclear detector for use in research on Alzheimer's is funded under the Programme for User-driven Research-based Innovation (BIA) - the Research Council's industry-oriented competitive arena.
Gamma-ray burstsGamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation that has at least 1,000 times more energy than visible light. The radiation occurs during nuclear fission, such as when stars explode. The sources of the explosions are usually billions of light years away. Gamma Medica-IdeasNorwegian participation in the DELPHI (DEtector with Lepton, Photon and Hadron Identification) experiment at CERN started in 1985 and initiated the development of semiconductor detector technology in Norway. The development was led by the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo and the independent research organisation SINTEF in Oslo. In 1993 this led to the creation of the company Ideas ASA, whose aim was to commercialise the technology. In the early stages Ideas ASA's deliveries were mainly to various particle physics and astrophysics projects. However, the intention was always to use the technology within the fields of medicine and biotechnology. In 2005 Ideas ASA merged with the US company Gamma Medica to form Gamma Medica-Ideas. The company produces equipment for pre-clinical research and medical diagnostic imaging equipment. |
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This article was originally published in Norwegian in Forskning magazine no. 2/09. Read more articles in English from this issue. Electronic versions of the articles from all issues of the magazine (in Norwegian): Visit the Forskning magazine website. |
- Published:
- 29.05.2009
- Last updated:
- 29.05.2009
