Our research, here at CAMS

Fundamental physics

Here at the Centre for Antimatter-Matter Studies we’re studying how antimatter interacts with various types of ordinary, “positive” matter. We’re conducting experiments using positrons, to see how they react with single atoms, with biological molecules, with surfaces and with other materials.

New materials

Learning more about how positrons interact with matter will help to develop better materials: new types of plastic, silicon wafers, even better drug-delivery devices for medical treatments.

Better medical imaging

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners use antimatter to produce images of the human body, and they’re in use in hospitals around the world.

They’re already one of the most powerful tools we have for investigating brain function and certain types of cancers.

But there’s always room for improvement.
We’re investigating what happens during a PET scan, between the moment when the radiopharmaceutical emits a positron, and the moment when the positron annihilates with an electron.

This may help to develop lower-energy radiopharmaceuticals, which could let us use lower doses of the pharmaceutical (better for the patient) and improve the resolution of the PET scan images.

More about the Centre for Antimatter-Matter Studies: who we are >>