In another endorsement for Edinburgh’s fast-growing life sciences community, Toshiba Medical Visualisation Systems (TVMS) has launched a £15.5 million research and development programme in healthcare imaging informatics at its facility in the Scottish capital.

Backed by a £3 million grant from public body Scottish Enterprise, the project will enable TVMS – a subsidiary of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation originally set up in 1995 by graduates of the University of Edinburgh – to expand its R&D capability in Scotland, creating 26 new jobs.

The funding will help TMVS and its parent company to set up a new team in Edinburgh who will develop Healthcare Imaging Informatics Technology for advanced medical imaging applications, including image analysis algorithms and clinical development frameworks to increase productivity.

The hope is that the TMVS operation will become the leading centre of its kind within the company, boosting the Edinburgh team to more than 100 people over the first three years of the programme.

Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, described the initiative as “one of the biggest life sciences R&D projects we’ve ever supported” – and one that “demonstrates the real capabilities that Scotland has within the sector for attracting and supporting life sciences companies at a global level”.