China builds trans-scale biomedical imaging center to boost life sciences research

BEIJING - The National Multimode Trans-Scale Biomedical Imaging Center, one of China's key scientific infrastructure projects, passed national acceptance on Friday, bringing it one step closer to further supporting life sciences research and the diagnosis and treatment of major diseases, said the Institute of Biophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Beginning construction in 2019, the center was jointly initiated by Peking University and the Institute of Biophysics, and built with several research institutions including Harbin Institute of Technology and University of Science and Technology of China, with a total investment of 1.717 billion yuan (about 237 million U.S. dollars).

The center's core facilities include a multimodal medical imaging device, a multimodal in vivo cell imaging device, a multimodal high-resolution molecular imaging device, and a multi-scale image data integration system. It is capable of conducting trans-scale visualization and precise measurement of the structure and function of living organisms from the molecular to the organ level.

According to the Institute of Biophysics, the facility has attracted 29 major project proposals in digital life sciences, which will focus on systematic research and development in fields including brain science and tumor diagnosis and treatment,

In the future, it will provide imaging omics research tools for the study of complex life sciences and major diseases, enabling a panoramic investigation and interpretation of significant biomedical questions and promoting a paradigm shift in biomedical research.

The facility will also form an industrial innovation alliance with universities, research institutions and enterprises in biomedical imaging sector to create an innovative ecosystem for the integration of industry, academia, research and application.

According to the Institute of Biophysics, it will be open to researchers nationwide and establish international alliances with biomedical imaging platforms in the United States, the European Union, and other countries and regions.