As a result of a partnership between Nantes University Hospital and the Western Cancer Institute (ICO), the new shared medical imaging centre, IMRAM, opened on 3 May 2021. Two new equipments have joined the Nantes University Hospital site: a PET-CT and a PET-MRI.
In the age of individualised medicine, medical imaging is playing an increasing role in diagnosis and assessment of treatment response in cancer. Among the imaging methods, there are two distinct technologies, the first of which locates and measures the tumour, such as MRI and CT scan, and the second which assesses its biological functioning, in this case PET.
The major technological development of this new imaging centre is the combination of these two technologies. Located at the Nantes University Hospital on the Hôtel-Dieu site, the IMRAM, for Multimodal Molecular IMageRy, offers two pieces of equipment: a PET-CT and a PET-MRI. In a single examination, they can obtain the anatomical and functional characteristics of the tumour. With the installation of this PET-MRI, the Nantes region now has the 5th French installation of this type and offers the only PET-MRI in the Grand-Ouest used in clinical research. This new centre is open to other university hospitals, hospitals and CLCCs in the Grand-Ouest, in particular the Angers university hospital and the Brest CHRU, which are already part of the PET-MRI schedule.
Created in particular within the context of the Labex IRON and the SIRIC ILIAD, the IMRAM is part of both clinical and fundamental research projects. Integrated into the ThARGET programme of the SIRIC ILIAD, the nuclear oncology programme co-directed by Françoise Bodéré and Michel Cherel, the objective of this hybrid facility is to participate in research on improving diagnosis as well as the sensitivity and specificity of prognosis, particularly in breast cancer and multiple myeloma. IMRAM is expected to increase the number of inclusion in clinical trials and lead to new scientific publications.
It is also a question of supporting the development of theranostic tools to detect and treat the tumour. This field of research is made possible by the research carried out in parallel by the partners Arronax and IRON, on the manufacture of innovative radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals. IMRAM is thus positioned as a new innovative structure in cancer research in the Pays de la Loire region.
MRI : Magnetic resonance imaging
CT Scan : Computed Tomography scan
PET : Positron Emission Tomography
Presentation of IMRAM by the Nantes University Hospital and the ICO :
A project funded by :
