Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging

About us

CABI hosts 14 state-of-the-art imaging modalities and has a long-standing record in developing and applying imaging techniques. We have published over 500 papers in journals such as Nature, Nature Photonics, Nature Medicine, and The Lancet, and translated novel biomedical imaging tools into clinical practice.

We use an integrated strategy to develop novel biomedical imaging technologies to better understand the mechanisms of disease and develop therapies. We deliver multimodal imaging programmes which investigate the molecular, functional, and structural consequences of the disease process on a range of scales.

Using a unique combination of imaging modalities, we advance early diagnosis and enhance experimental therapies for cancer, heart disease and neurodegeneration.

Our research

Through successful fellowships, CABI has formed into six independent research groups. We work together to apply advanced imaging to enhance our understanding of neuroscience, cardiovascular biology, and oncology.

The limits of perception: Advances in biomedical imaging

Ellison Cliffe Lecture 2021 for the Royal Society of Medicine

Professor Mark Lythgoe explores the next generation of imaging technologies that make the invisible, visible. Mark shows how to guide nanoscalpels in the brain with MRI scanners, reanimate tissue with light, picture new brain pathways for drug delivery and listen to the sound of cells.

Modalities / Facilities 

Thanks to our funders, CABI is able to provide a unique range of state-of-the-art imaging modalities. 

These include high-field 9.4T MRIs, photoacoustic imaging systems, high-frequency ultrasound, in vivo bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging, PET/CT, SPECT, micro-CT, confocal endoscopy, high-res episcopic microscope and a Xenon Hyperpolariser. 

These are listed below by current levels of deployment in our work.

Our experts

Get to know our staff at the Centre Advanced Biomedical Imaging.

Selected publications

1. Patrick PS, Stuckey DJ, Zhu H, Kalber TL, Iftikhar H, Southern P, Bear JC, Lythgoe MF, et al (2024). Improved tumour delivery of iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia therapy of melanoma via ultrasound guidance and 111In SPECT quantification. Nanoscale. 2024 Oct 31;16(42): 19715-19729.
2. Flechas Becerra C, Barrios Silva LV, Ahmed E, Bear JC, Feng Z ... Lythgoe MF, Stuckey DJ, Patrick PS (2023). X-Ray Visible Protein Scaffolds by Bulk Iodination. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Mar;11(10): e2306246.
3. Jørgensen ACS, Hill CS ... Lythgoe M, et al. (2023). Data-driven spatio-temporal modelling of glioblastoma. R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Mar 22;10(3): 221444.
4. Geng H, Lupton EJ ... Stuckey DJ, Stevens MM (2023). Hybrid Polypyrrole and Polydopamine Nanosheets for Precise Raman/Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy. Adv Healthc Mater. 2023 Oct;12(27): e2301148.
5. Zaw Thin M, Moore C, Snoeks T, Kalber T, et al (2023). Micro-CT acquisition and image processing to track and characterize pulmonary nodules in mice. Nat Protoc. 2023 Mar;18(3): 990-1015.
6. Hosford PS, Wells JA, Nizari S ... Lythgoe MF, Gourine AV (2022). CO2 signaling mediates neurovascular coupling in the cerebral cortex. Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 19;13(1): 2125.
7. Baker RR, Payne C, Yu Y, Mohseni M, Connell JJ, Lin F, Harrison IF ... Stuckey DJ, Kalber TL ... Lythgoe MF (2022). Image-Guided Magnetic Thermoseed Navigation and Tumor Ablation Using a Magnetic Resonance Imaging System. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Apr;9(12): e2105333.
8. Perera C ... Lythgoe MF, Thomas DL, Wells JA (2022). Investigating changes in blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier function in a rat model of chronic hypertension using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging. Front Mol Neurosci. 2022 Sep 2;15: 964632.
9. Ohene Y, Harrison IF, Evans PG, Thomas DL, Lythgoe MF, Wells JA (2021). Increased blood-brain barrier permeability to water in the aging brain detected using noninvasive multi-TE ASL MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2021 Jan;85(1): 326-333.
10. Harrison IF, Ismail O, Machhada A ... Wells JA, Lythgoe MF (2020). Impaired glymphatic function and clearance of tau in an Alzheimer's disease model. Brain. 2020 Aug 1;143(8): 2576-2593.

Awards

Mark Lythgoe is committed to the public engagement of science. During his tenure as Director of the Cheltenham Science Festival, it became one of the largest science festivals in the world.

• 2020: Mark receives the Royal Society of Medicine Ellison–Cliffe Award for his contribution of fundamental science to the advancement of medicine.
• 2015: Mark is awarded the Neuroscience Prize for Public Understanding by the British Neuroscience Association, as someone epitomising the best of public engagement.
• 2013: Mark receives the Davies Medal from the Royal Photographic Society for a significant contribution to the field of imaging science.

Mark has also received the Alumni Achievement Award, which is given to the University of Salford’s most notable and successful graduates. For his contributions to communicating science, Mark has received the Biosciences Federation Science Communication Award and was made a Fellow of the British Science Association.