Euro-BioImaging at Turku PET Symposium 2025

In June 2025, Euro-BioImaging team members were delighted to attend the Turku PET Symposium, organised by the Turku PET Centre, part of our Finnish Biomedical Imaging Node. This international event takes place every 3 years. This year’s edition took place at the Turku City Theatre from June 6-9, 2025. Euro-BioImaging team members, Alessandra Viale and Susanne Vainio, represented the organisation at the booth and Euro-BioImaging Director General, John Eriksson, gave a talk at the opening ceremony.  The event was a great success and gave a glimpse into the future of medical imaging. Susanne Vainio shares her impressions.

Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation in Radiochemistry

The 2025 Turku PET Symposium drew global attention as it marked the 50th anniversary of PET radiochemistry in Turku. The symposium featured a dedicated session for radiochemical developments, and Professor Olof Solin gave a fascinating talk about the early days of radiochemistry in Turku, starting with the MGC-20 cyclotron installation in 1973 to the present day with three cyclotrons, eight PET scanners, and tens of available tracers. 

Synergies between Euro-Bioimaging ERIC and Turku PET Centre

The Director General of Euro-Bioimaging, John Eriksson, gave a talk at the opening ceremony of the symposium on Friday evening, together with Juhani Knuuti, the director of the Turku PET Centre. They offered insights into the history of imaging in Turku, and emphasised the importance of having a renowned PET Centre and the headquarters of a European Researcher infrastructure in the same city, amplifying access to advanced imaging through international collaborations. Eriksson explained the opportunities that Euro-Bioimaging has to offer and told about several exciting EU projects that are running, such as the pioneering RE-IMAGINE-CROPS, which utilises PET imaging in crop visualisation. The City of Turku representative reminded all participants that it is the researchers who are the future gamechangers, not the politicians. There were lively discussions at the Euro-BioImaging booth about how to participate in EU projects and how to access the advanced imaging modalities Euro-BioImaging has to offer.

Topics ranging from tracer development to AI applications

Overall, the event brought together scientists, clinicians, and technologists from across the world to explore breakthroughs in positron emission tomography (PET). Topics ranged from novel tracer development and total-body PET applications to the integration of artificial intelligence in imaging workflows. The symposium hosted leading PET experts from across the world, covering radiochemistry and tracer development, clinical cardiology, neurodegeneration and inflammation, metabolism, theranostics, and tools for automatic image segmentation. Many thanks to the organisers for the excellent event - it was great to be with  the community! 

Article contributed by Susanne Vainio.