The University of Glasgow’s Living Laboratory is celebrating a major milestone as its partner, MR CoilTech, wins the Innovative Collaboration Award at the 2025 Scotland’s Life Sciences Awards. This prestigious award recognises groundbreaking partnerships that bridge industry, academia, and healthcare to drive commercial potential through cutting-edge technologies, products, or services.
The awards ceremony, held on Thursday 13th March, brought together industry leaders and innovators to celebrate Scotland’s growing influence in life sciences. The ceremony recognised individuals and organisations who are driving transformative change, with categories including Innovation in Pharma Services & Drug Discovery and Innovation in Health Technology.
The award recognises the pioneering collaboration that led to the development of MR CoilTech’s radiofrequency (RF) head coil. This partnership between MR CoilTech, the University of Glasgow, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Wideblue Limited brought together engineering expertise, research excellence, and clinical insights to achieve a next-generation coil with unmatched imaging resolution, signal quality, and ease of use.
Through the Living Laboratory’s Coil Development project, the head coil has now been taken to the next stage of development. This project is building and clinically validating body-part-specific radiofrequency (RF) coils to extend the utility of ultra-high-resolution 7 Tesla (7T) MRI for diagnosing and monitoring a wide range of diseases.
In addition to the head coil, a neurovascular (NV) coil and prostate coil have been constructed and are currently being validated through the Coil Development project, with an additional coil for spinal imaging in the pipeline.
Receiving this award marks a significant milestone for MR CoilTech and reinforces its strong collaboration with the Living Laboratory to advance next-generation imaging solutions that will enhance disease diagnosis.
This collaboration aligns with the College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences’ ambition in advanced diagnostics and therapeutics by advancing imaging capabilities. The development of these body-part-specific RF coils has the potential to significantly improve disease diagnosis and monitoring, further supporting the University’s mission to enhance disease prevention, early detection, and early intervention.
Dr Shajan Gunamony, CEO of MR CoilTech and Head of MRI RF Engineering at the University of Glasgow, said: “We are incredibly grateful to receive the Innovative Collaboration Award, which marks a major milestone for MR CoilTech. This achievement is a testament to the strength of cross-sector partnership in driving meaningful innovation.
“We’re delighted to be taking the development of the body-part-specific RF coils to the next stage of development with the University of Glasgow’s Living Laboratory programme. Through our combined expertise, we are pushing the boundaries of diagnostic capabilities, enabling researchers to study the body with unprecedented detail.
“This collaboration is not only enhancing our understanding of a wide range of diseases but also improving the accuracy and accessibility of critical diagnoses, ultimately benefiting patients around the world.”
The Scotland’s Life Sciences Awards has highlighted the country’s ever-expanding footprint in life sciences for over 25 years. It continues to honour excellence and innovation across the sector, strengthening Scotland’s position as a leader in transformative healthcare solutions.