OVERNIGHT, the North-East has become one of the best-equipped centres for medical research involving advanced MRI technology.

Yesterday's opening of the £5m Centre for Magnetic Resonance Studies puts Newcastle at the forefront of research into conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

The centre, in the grounds of Newcastle General Hospital, is built around a hugely powerful magnetic resonance image (MRI) scanner.

Its installation on Tyneside is the culmination of more than ten years of work by leading diabetes researcher, Professor Roy Taylor.

Prof Taylor, who will be co-director of the centre, along with MRI expert Professor Andrew Blamire, has been involved in world-beating research into diabetes.

Until now, Prof Taylor has had to rely on the willingness of North-East patients to travel more than 200 miles to be scanned by an equivalent super-scanner in Nottingham.

Now he will be able to continue his pioneering work nearer to home.

The extreme sensitivity of the scanner allows scientists to observe internal organs in tremendous detail.

It will be able to carry out "virtual" biopsies of heart muscle, without an operation.

Prof Taylor's research could lead to a revolution in the management of the increasingly common disease.

He has already discovered that the storage of fat in the muscles of people with diabetes is greatly increased after a meal, which is likely to explain the failure of muscle to store sugar, leading to high blood glucose levels after meals.

Prof Taylor is convinced that diabetes is largely a reflection of the lack of physical exercise.

"We are hoping to work out the scientific basis of this theory, so we can go back to ministers with this important information," he added.

Apart from diabetes, the new scanner will be used for hospital treatment and research projects for conditions such as liver and heart disease, dementia, cancer and muscular dystrophy.

The new centre will become part of a wider Campus for Ageing and Vitality, which is under development as part of the Science City initiative.

Funding for the medical project came from One NorthEast, The Northern Rock Foundation, Newcastle University, The Cookson Trust, The Barclay Foundation, fundsing from the Government and a £250,000 donation from a patient.