Professor Florian Grüner receives Innovation Award for X-ray fluorescence

The research project funded by “Calls for Transfer” has received the prestigious Innovation Award for Synchrotron Radiation 2022/2023, awarded annually by HZB (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin). Professor Grüner and his team have developed an innovative medical imaging method that enables the direct tracking of active ingredients in living organisms, among other things. The real-time detection allows precise observation of immune responses or antibodies, meaning that chronic diseases could be better researched in the future.

Florian Grüner is professor at the University of Hamburg and at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), a cooperation between DESY, the University of Hamburg and the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. The project, funded by Calls for Transfer, enabled Florian Grüner and his team to continue developing the so-called X-ray Fluorescence Imaging, XFI, resulting in a key breakthrough: The imaging method allows for the precise detection of the smallest tumours or the tracking of drugs or cells in living organisms, and thus in vivo. This newly developed synchrotron-based method promises to deliver important insights in future medical research, including in cancer treatment.

Tracking via X-ray fluorescence has been widely used at synchrotrons, but it was previously impossible to use the method for non-invasive detection of small quantities of elements. Now, Florian Grüner and his team have overcome these limitations, paving the way for directly investigating immune cells, optimising treatments and developing new treatment methods, for example.