This is a PET/MR equipment, which incorporates the two most powerful diagnostic imaging tools currently available: positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. It will be installed thanks to the philanthropic collaboration of the foundation Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu
The new device will be the country's first public healthcare PET/MR and will serve the entire Catalan public health system allowing a single patient portfolio
Besides endorsing early and accurate detection of cancer and other diseases, the High Precision Diagnostic Centre will mark a paradigm shift in image-based diagnosis, placing the patient experience at the forefront
The new centre was presented today in a conference for health professionals, which was closed by the Catalan Minister of Health, Josep Maria Argimon
Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) will have a High Precision Diagnostic Centre thanks to the installation of a device that integrates in a single scan the two most advanced diagnostic imaging tools currently available: positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MR).
The PET/MR, which integrates anatomical, functional and molecular information, will be the first healthcare equipment in Spain's public healthcare system. The implementation of the equipment will be possible thanks to the philanthropic collaboration of the foundation Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu. The device will make the HUB become a referral centre for the use of PET/MR equipment in southern Europe.
This new centre deploys for the first time in Spain the European model of diagnostic imaging, in which PET/MR scans play a key role.
The advantages of a PET/MR scanner are manifold. Firstly, it increases patient safety by reducing radiation by up to 60% compared to a PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) device. Secondly, it improves diagnostic accuracy, allowing the most appropriate treatment to be selected. Finally, it reduces the number of tests and the resulting travel and time required to treat the disease.
From an overall management point of view, PET/MR will contribute to improving the sustainability of the public health system by optimising the use of resources, improving treatment planning and avoiding both overtreatment and unnecessary tests.
The diagnostic applications of the PET/MR extend to a wide range of specialties: detection of prostate and gynaecological cancers, oncoendocrinology, liver and brain tumour pathologies, breast, head and neck and colorectal cancers, neurodegenerative cardiac diseases, inflammatory diseases and other rare diseases.
Thanks to the agreement signed with the Foundation Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu, this equipment, valued at more than six million euros, will make the new High Precision Diagnostics Centre a benchmark in southern Europe. In this way, the Catalan health system is taking a giant step forward in terms of equity related access to cutting-edge technology that will put it on a par with the most advanced European countries.
The new device will be unique in the Catalan public health system, establishing a unified appointment system for the entire territory, which will also include the paediatric population. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2022 and will be able to be used by 3,500 users each year.
A new model for integrating the patient experience
During the presentation of the new equipment, held today at Bellvitge University Hospital, Josep M. Argimon, the Catalan Minister of Health, expressed his gratitude to the foundation Fundació Privada Daniel Bravo Andreu for what he described as "philanthropy with a high social impact". “It is not a matter of coming to install a technology and leave," he remarked, "but rather of thinking very carefully about what value it is going to provide".
Argimon also stressed that the new facility "is a national project that will improve the health of all citizens".
The new High Precision Diagnostic Centre will create a new paradigm in diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine, a new model that takes the patient experience as the backbone, from the preparation of the service to its evaluation, in order to improve the safety and effectiveness of care.
In this sense, Bellvitge Hospital is already working on the development of the Patient Experience Project (adult and children). Among other, the project includes the participation of users in the design of the space that will house the High Precision Diagnostics Centre, as well as the deployment of the model for the articulation of monitoring and evaluation systems of the measures implemented throughout the project focused on improving the patient experience.
Bellvitge University Hospital has accumulated considerable expertise in the field of diagnostic imaging. It was the first public centre to have PET/CT equipment and is the hospital that performs the most PET/CT diagnostic tests in Spain. Moreover, as part of the Bellvitge Campus, it is integrated into a technological, scientific and healthcare environment that is ideal for equipment such as PET/MR.
Specifically, as a whole the institutions of the Bellvitge Campus already are a benchmark centre in Spain in precision diagnosis and treatment by imaging. Together they have more than 4,000 square metres for two positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), two single photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT), a gamma camera, a metabolic therapy room, three MRIs, six computed tomography (CT), three angiographs, seven ultrasound scanners, two mammographs, seven conventional X-ray rooms and soon the future positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI).
The set of directions for use of the new PET/MR is being developed, in a pioneering manner in Spain, through a multidisciplinary task in which several working groups have participated.
The incorporation of PET/MR will also facilitate the development of new research and training projects, such as a new master's degree in Precision Diagnostic Medicine with the University of Barcelona (UB).