For the past 10 years the Daisy Appeal has funded the analogue PET scanning equipment and facility at Castle Hill Hospital. The Siemans scanner started scanning 1500 people per year for cancer and heart disease and this has grown to 5000 scans this year in 2025. Our trajectory demonstrates a need to scan up to 9000 patients per year in the coming decade with the inclusion of the expansion of dementia scanning. The current equipment is not designed to function at this high level of performance, and we need to move into the digital world in health screening with procurement of multiple capability digital scanning equipment. The new scanner is modular and if future funded, could become the UK's third only such full body scanner.
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Since the Jack Brignall Centre started scanning in 2015 it has gone from undertaking 1500 scans then to 5000 scans in 2025, with the NHS predicting continued growth for the next decade. Currently most scans are on cancer patients but with the advent of new drugs for Alzheimer’s Disease, the Service is anticipating a significant number of these patients also requiring scanning, both pre-treatment (diagnosis and extent of disease) and post-treatment (response). There is also the issue of using PET to scan a variety of heart conditions.
The patient workload is growing fast and consequently we are looking to purchase a second scanner and have decided to go with GE’ Healthcare OMNI model. It will enable the scanning of patients for screening purposes (e.g. for lung cancer), repeated scanning of individual patients, and the scanning of children and pregnant women. Consequently, it will open avenues and accelerate research in children, disease conditions that particularly affect young adults (e.g. Crohn’s disease, growth disorders, juvenile arthritis etc), conditions that prevent lying still on the scanner for prolonged periods and will allow repetition of scans to evaluate management, all key unmet and highly relevant aspects of R&D and has the following advantages:
At the moment there are only 2 whole body scanners being used clinically in the UK: one in London and one in Edinburgh, and The Daisy Appeal aim is for Hull to be the third centre if we are to maintain our role as a lead in this fast-growing arena of imaging technology.
As member of the national PET Network (along with Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Cardiff Universities and Imperial and Kings Colleges in London) having such a scanner will provide us with new, groundbreaking clinical trials and allied research developments. It will put Hull and the East Riding in an unrivalled position in the North of England.
100% of the donations received go to fund vital lifesaving research and provision of medical scanning facilities.
Please note all funds are used in full by the charity to further its objectives.
The Hull and East Yorkshire Medical Research Centre
A Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee in England and Wales. Company No. 4017833
Registered office: Daisy Building, Castle Hill Hospital, Castle Road, Cottingham HU16 5JQ Registered Charity No. 1095652
