Hundreds of Bradford patients with common liver complaints are set to benefit from a pioneering procedure which uses MRI scans to diagnose their problems.

Dr Clive Kay, who has just begun work as a consultant radiologist at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, was part of a team in America which developed the new process to diagnose problems including gall stones and cancers.

Now he will bring his expertise to bear in Bradford in what hospital chiefs hope will be a number of improvements using MRI technology which will replace existing costly, uncomfortable and time-consuming tests for patients once the Bradford Millennium Scanner Appeal, which now stands at £660,000, hits its £1million target.

Dr Kay, formerly a visiting associate professor of radiology at the Medical University of South Carolina, a celebrated centre in the gastro-intestinal field, said MRI scanning had been developed at the university to examine a duct which drains bile from the liver to the bowel.

Scans could now pinpoint gall stones and look for cancerous tumours in and around the duct.

The technique replaced internal examinations of the duct using injections of dye and X-rays in a procedure carried out on up to 12 people a week in Bradford.

"It means a 20 minute examination without any radiation, without any invasive tests, which do carry an element of risk, and without the cost," he said.

He said MRI technology was commonly-used in America and the new scanner was a major factor in his arrival in Bradford.

A number of benign conditions in the liver also had a characteristic appearance on MRI scans which could also prevent the need for biopsies and give patients earlier peace of mind.

"It's now practically impossible to practice modern radiology without MRI and there's a great opportunity and potential here to develop imaging with the scanner arriving - which I am very excited about," he said.

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