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Major UK and US funding help University of Aberdeen scientists devise novel way to tackle causes of back pain

Date: 23 June 2000
Our ref: 639
 

Thousands of back pain sufferers are set to be helped thanks to novel research and new state-of-the art equipment at the University of Aberdeen funded by the Scottish Higher Education Research Council.   (SHEFC).  Announced formally tomorrow (Friday 23 June), SHEFC support for the project totals £1.03M and an additional £600,000 has been provided by American equipment manufacturer, FONAR.

Research leader Professor Malcolm Pope, Professor of Health and Safety at the University’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, explained:  “Some two million people of all ages are chronically ill or disabled because of back pain and it is the prime cause of absence from work in the UK.

“Its incidence doubled in the 1970s, doubled again in the 80s and is well on the way to doing so again in the 1990s.  Between 1995-96, the DHSS estimated that there were at least 117.5 million days of certified sickness absence due to back pain at an estimated cost to the UK economy of £6Billion.
 
“One of the ways we currently look at the cause of back pain is by using a conventional MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner, however, that method does not give us a realistic picture of the load which is being placed on the body’s joints and tissues because the patient in lying down during the scanning process.

“The SHEFC grant will enable the University  to buy a vertical MRI scanner which will allow the study of the function of the muscles, joints, ligaments and spine in both disease and normal health states, under weight bearing conditions.  Using a combination of mathematical models and specialised measuring devices, we will be able to determine how internal forces in the tissues and joints are distributed.”

Professor Pope added:  “Most back pain does not have a specific diagnosis and the new scanner will help us toascribe a physical cause and eventually improve treatment options. The scanner will also be used to investigate certain tasks linked to occupational low pack pain.”

The equipment is due to arrive in Aberdeen in January 2001 and the first research projects will begin shortly thereafter.

The grant brings together some of the pioneers of MRI from both sides of the Atlantic.  The original whole body scan was invented by Professor John Mallard of the University of Aberdeen while the clinical use of the techniques was pioneered by Dr Frank Smith who is a Consultant Radiologist at Grampian Hospitals University Trust, a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Aberdeen and an Honorary Professor of Health  Sciences at the Robert Gordon University.   Dr Raymond Damadian, the Chief Executive of FONAR was the first to build a commercial MRI and his patent of a vertical MRI dates back to 1974.  No European company currently manufactures such equipment.

Principal of the University of Aberdeen, C. Duncan Rice, welcomed the grant news:  “This is excellent news.  Professor Pope is a distinguished international expert in his field and his expertise, coupled with this state-of-the-art vertical scanner, will undoubtedly improve the understanding of back pain.

“Back pain affects the lives of so many thousands of people on a daily basis.  Apart from the potential improvements to the quality of life of sufferers, the work could also lead to the relief of extreme back pain in sufferers as well as reducing the number of working days lost by sufferers and the resultant negative impact on our national economy.”
 
Professor Frank Smith said:  “The development will for the first time allow patients to be scanned both whilst standing and in the sitting position which are the positions most patients with back pain suffer the most.  In other words, we will be able to scan and see exactly what is happening in the spine when patients have their worst pain.  This is a more natural way to study patients with back problems.
 
“In addition to studying the back, we will also be able to examine the hips, knees and ankles under natural weight beating conditions.
 
“The anticipated benefit of the work with this unique scanner will be to make more accurate diagnosis than at present, resulting in appropriate treatment beginning sooner.   A study of the effects of physiotherapy on the treatment of patients with back pain, knee, hip and ankle problems will be pursued in collaboration with the Robert Gordon University plan to show that it is more appropriate to examine the painful back in the standing, weight bearing position than lying down as in the current universal practice.  This will be a major advance in the application of clinical diagnosis and as a result is likely to improve treatment of a wide range of bone and joint diseases.”

Dr Damadian added:  “I am delighted to be working with the team in Aberdeen.   They have a unique level of knowledge and expertise in both  the area of back pain and the use of MRI technology.  I am looking forward to working with them to develop clinical protocols for the use of our vertical scanner.”

A number of studies are already planned:

* The team will examine changes in the spine and its individual discs due to ageing and degeneration with the aim of better understanding low back pain and sciatica
*They will also investigate a new hypothesis for the cause of scoliosis (curvature of the spine).
*Another study will investigate premature ageing in selected populations with known occupational risk exposure and low back symptoms.
* In a study of osteoarthritis (joint wear and tear), the vertical scanner will measure joint space in the hip and knee under vertical loading to assess cartilage loss.
* Injury to the tissues of the knee joint affects its movement and may lead to degeneration. The results of vertical MRI studies will help provide a basis for diagnosing and treating knee injuries
* In sports medicine, the team will conduct post exercise MRI studies to assess injury and changes in size, location and use of muscles.

ENDS
Further information from:
Christine Cook, Executive Director of Public Relations, Tel:  01224 272014
Professor Pope is available on mobile numbers 07879 447569 or 07899 901247 on 22 and 23 June.   He is available in Aberdeen again from 26 June for photo opportunities and interviews.  Please contact Christine Cook to organise the latter.

NOTES TO EDITORS/
 

Professor Malcolm Pope
Professor Pope joined the University in 1998 from the University of Iowa when he was appointed to the Liberty Safework Chair of Health and Safety.  He has established a research group dealing with the
preventive diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of low pack pain.   A recognised international expert in the study of the causes of back pain, Professor Pope has received many awards during his distinguished career:

Professor Frank Smith
Dr Frank Smith has worked in Aberdeen since 1979 as a Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiology.  He is one of the first to apply Magnetic Resonance Imaging to clinical medicine and works closely with the physicist sin the pioneering Nuclear Magnetic Resonance team at the University of Aberdeen.  He was also responsible for starting the first diagnostic MRI service in the world at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in September 1980.
 

Further information from:
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.