Background and History
CTI Molecular Imaging Inc. (CTI MI) was founded in Knoxville by four University of Tennessee (UT) electrical engineering alumni in the mid 1980's. The company developed and produced positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/CT scanners for medical imaging.
In the late 1990's, CTI MI began production of cerium-doped Lu2SiO5 scintillator crystals, allowing them to produce a PET scanner with faster data acquisition times and better resolution than previously possible. As a result, CTI MI's instruments set the standard in the diagnosis and research of many cancers and cardiological ailments, as well as neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In 2000, CTI MI's PET/CT scanner won Time Magazine's "Medical Invention of the Year."
In early 2003, CTI MI began collaborating with the High Temperature Materials Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Research was performed through the Materials Analysis User Center, the Thermophysical Properties User Center, and the Diffraction User Center. CTI MI also began collaborating with several faculty members at UT, particularly in the departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering. This unique partnership of industrial, academic, and DOE expertise in scintillator materials research in east Tennessee generated discussions of a dedicated research center.
In early 2005, CTI MI merged with Siemens Medical Solutions resulting in the formation of Siemens Medical Solutions Molecular Imaging. This new organization recognized the advantages of a scintillator materials research center as well, and Siemens Medical Solutions and the University of Tennessee formally signed a contract establishing the SMRC in October 2005.