Edward Lecture introduces Nobel Laureate to City

This year’s Edwards Lecture on Tuesday 8 March will be delivered by Professor Mansfield, joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2003.

This year’s Edwards Lecture on Tuesday 8 March will be delivered by Professor Mansfield, joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2003, on the subject of Real time Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Echo-planar imaging.


The Edward Lecture is organised in association with the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. Professor Sir Peter Mansfield is from the Magnetic Resonance Centre in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham.

 

Professor Mansfield is a pioneer in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which has revolutionised medical diagnosis in recent years. Echo-planar imaging (EPI) is a snap-shot imaging technique capable of producing medically useful images in times around 50ms thereby helping the diagnostic process, reducing movement and the time the patient needs to stay under the scanner.

 

There are disadvantages however including the high acoustic noise associated the large electric field associated with the generation of the magnetic gradient. Both of these effects carry dangerous implications for patient safety and Professor Mansfield with spend the second part of the lecture concentrating on these dangers and potential solutions to them.

 

This is the 35th year of Edwards Lecture and the third from a Nobel Laureate. In 1972 the lecture was delivered by Professor D Gabor from Imperial College who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in1971 for his work on holography. Five years ago, Professor Harry Kroto from the University of Sussex visited City to deliver the Edwards Lecture. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1996 for the discovery of a new form of Carbon – C60 Buckminsterfullerene.

 

The lecture takes place at 6.30pm in the Oliver Thompson Lecture Theatre.

 

Tea and coffee will be served from 6pm and a fork buffet will be served following the lecture.


If you would like to attend, please contact Lecha Kowalska in the School of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences.

Date of Article:  21/02/2005