Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands and the VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands have signed an agreement to jointly research new multi-modality imaging solutions aimed at improving the early detection and treatment of cancer and neurological and cardiovascular diseases.

The initial projects will focus on nuclear imaging, especially PET, and optical imaging techniques, as well as exploring novel imaging agents and developing software for quantitative image analysis and user-friendly data presentation, said Philips.

The new multi-modality imaging solutions could help clinicians determine the presence and extent of many diseases at an earlier stage, according to the company.