Newmarket philanthropist Dr Kirsten Rausing donates £400,000 state-of-the-art CT scanner to Addenbrooke's Hospital

Newmarket-based racehorse owner, breeder, and philanthropist Dr Kirsten Rausing has paid for a state-of-the-art CT scanner which has been installed at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and has seen its first patient.

The 3D Cone Beam scanner, which cost £400,000, makes the hospital the first in the east of England to offer in-house digital 3D surgical planning.

Doctors say it could greatly improve the life chances of many patients as it will not only dramatically cut surgery times and transform the lives of some patients with head and neck cancer, but will also help those with facial trauma, dental problems and children born with a cleft lip and palate.

The money for the scanner, which is so-called because of the precise cone or funnel it creates around the affected area, came through Dr Rausing’s Newmarket-based Alborada Trust, which is named after her dual Champion Stakes-winning mare bred at her Lanwades Stud at Moulton.

“Having previously supported several 3D imaging projects at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the trust was pleased to provide funding for the Cone Beam CT scanner, reducing surgery times by up to 60 per cent for some patients and sparing the need for patients to travel to other hospitals for treatment,” said trust director Jeremy Richardson.

“We really wanted to help dramatically cut surgery times and transform the lives of patients.”

Shelly Thake, chief executive of the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), said: “For some, the use of this cutting-edge technology could mean the difference between life and death and we’d like to thank the Alborada Trust for making this service possible and everyone else who donated.

“It will make a huge difference to so many head and neck cancer patients needing surgery at Addenbrooke’s.”

In 2018 the trust gave £5 million to Alzheimer’s Research UK through the Alborada Drug Discovery Institute to support five years of research.

This followed on from the trust’s previous support of the Alzheimer’s Research UK Stem Cell Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. And two years later, when the coronavirus pandemic took hold, the trust donated £25,000 to the Suffolk County Community Coronavirus Fund and £20,000 each to the Newmarket Racing Centre and the Newmarket Day Centre.