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HRH The Princess Royal Opens Centre for Medical Engineering

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal was accompanied by King’s College London President & Principal, Professor Edward Byrne AC, and Sir Hugh Taylor, Chairman, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, as she officially opened a new Wellcome/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Medical Engineering today (14 December 2017).

The state-of-the-art Centre brings together world leading scientists from across King’s College London’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, and the Department of Neuroimaging, to create a centre of medical engineering excellence.

Patients visiting the new facility will benefit from a concentration of expertise that will improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric, oncological and cardiovascular diseases.

During the visit Her Royal Highness, who is also the Chancellor of the University of London, was shown an array of cutting-edge scanning and imaging technology, including a Trans-Oesophageal Echo robot (TOE).

The robot controls a specialised ultrasound probe that, once inserted in the oesophagus, provides higher resolution images of the heart than those currently available. The enhanced images allow doctors to better identify and target issues without the need for invasive surgery.

Professor Byrne said:

“This new Centre is a tangible manifestation of King’s unrelenting ambition to make a significant and innovative contribution to society.

“We are committed to building meaningful relationships with research funders in order to accelerate the translation of world-leading research into life changing treatments. The difference this Centre will make is immeasurable and I am proud and humbled by the talent, drive and passion of all those who have come together to make such a significant difference to the lives of others.”

Director of the Centre and King’s College London Vice President & Vice Principal Research, Professor Reza Razavi said:

“We are honoured to have The Princess Royal open this game-changing facility.

“Thanks to the Wellcome Trust and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, who are supporting an outstanding multi-disciplinary group of researchers, many patients will benefit from this innovative new Centre.

“I’m really proud to have been able to illustrate to Her Royal Highness the real difference that the research coming from the Centre is making, including to the care of the smallest and sickest babies in the country.”

Discussing research into fetal scanning

Centre Director Reza Razavi explaining our Trans-Oesophageal Echo robot