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The new facility incorporates one of the largest radio-pharmacies in Europe, five gamma cameras for conventional and tomographic imaging, bone densitometry and two dedicated positron emission tomography/computer-assisted tomography (PET/CT) scanners - one the first of its kind in the UK.

The INM in the new hospital is also able to make use of ten dedicated beds for radionuclide therapies. In the latter part of 2006, a hospital-dedicated medical cyclotron will complement this major investment in infrastructure for molecular nuclear medicine and imaging investigations.

The Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê INM provides a clinical service for the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊH NHS Trust as well as undertaking teaching and research. Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê INM Director, Professor Peter Ell, said: "This is a great step forward for us in terms of the research we will be able to conduct and the patient service we can offer."

The institute, now in its 45th year, has always been a pioneer in the field, growing from the Department of Physics Applied to Medicine established in 1921 at the Middlesex Hospital. Current investigations include the investigation of myocardial perfusion in the early assessment of coronary artery disease, the neuro-pharmacology of schizophrenia and investigation of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, the study of neuroendocrine and tumours of the central nervous system and the role of fusion imaging techniques SPECT/CT and PET/CT in the early staging and restaging of cancer, in particular its response to therapies. Recently, the institute was the first to introduce PET/CT in the UK in 2002.

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• Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute of Nuclear Medicine