European Science Foundation calls for more and better medical imaging research

The European Science Foundation (ESF) has called for greater collaboration across Europe on research on medical imaging. In October 2007, the medical section of the ESF, the European Medical Research Councils (EMRC), pub- lished a science policy briefing on “Medical Imaging for Improved Patient Care”, based on a workshop attended by key experts in the field of medical imaging. This policy briefing emphasises the great potential of medical imaging, outlines European issues and challenges and presents policy recommendations. Within the briefing, the ESF claims that medical imaging research in Europe is fragmented and that closer cooperation between doctors, scientists and industry is needed if Europe is to realise the full potential of new technological developments and remain globally competi- tive in this field. Medical imaging is one of the fastest growing areas within medicine, both in the clinical settings in hospitals and in research and development. According to the experts, imaging is making important contributions to preventive medicine and early diagnosis, whilst new imaging technology could result in improved and cost- effective healthcare. But, says the ESF, to obtain the maximum benefit from these exciting advances, research needs to be more collaborative than at present. The science policy briefing contains a number of key recommendations that will lead to more and better research into medical imaging throughout Europe: 1) improved collaboration between universities, between imaging specialists and other scientists, and better ways to bring together different types of imaging to provide superior information; 2) the establishment of large interdisciplinary research groups with access to long-term funding; and 3) better collabora- tion between academia and industry.