Published Friday, 30 September 2011
The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC) is the only children's hospital in the UK that does not have the imaging machine which is used to diagnose and treat cancer and brain disorders.
However, four local charities have joined forces to raise the £2m needed to buy the specialist piece of equipment.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner is so effective that it can detect a tumour the size of a grain of barley.
Having a scanner in the region would mean that ill children would no longer have to undergo alternative types of investigation which can be invasive or involve radiation.
The charities raising the vital funds are Helping Hand, Northern Ireland Children's Cancer Unit Fund, Children's Heartbeat Trust and Carrickmannon MRI Scanner Appeal.
Sarah Quinlan, from the charity Helping Hands, told UTV that the Children's MRI Scanner Appeal is a "massively important" fundraising drive.
"This is a vital piece of equipment that will provide safer treatment for all sick children in Northern Ireland."
She described the children's hospital as "the centre of children's health" in the region.
Dr Brian Grant, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at the children's hospital, said critically ill children need the full range of support services available.
"For young infants or younger children, we have to send the patient and their family to a remote site - to Dublin or London - to have the test performed or alternatively, we've had to consider doing another type of imaging technique which may be less desirable," he explained.
The campaigners hope to have the funds raised by 2013.
To find our more about the campaign or contact the organisers, go to www.mriscannerappeal.org
They are also working with the Belfast Trust regarding funding the staff needed to operate the equipment and other maintenance costs.