Oasis high-field MRI

Last August, Hitachi completed its first OASISTM high-field open MRI installation. The system went into clinical use at St Mary Medical Centre in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, in a multi-million dollar MRI expansion of St Mary Imaging  ‘As technology has continued to progress, the differences in image quality and patient comfort have been minimised,’ said Dr Daniel Cohen, Medical Director of MRI at the centre. ‘We now can offer patients the security of a spacious design for added comfort during scans while simultaneously providing the most accurate scan results to aid physicians in their diagnoses.’
OASISTM delivers high speed gradients, multichannel RF technology and the unmatched Zenith RF Coils to the only truly open architecture high performance systems ever installed, Hitachi reports. ‘We are very excited about our relationship with St Mary Medical Centre and are proud to see our first installation in a facility dedicated to excellence,’ said Sheldon Schaffer, HMSA’s Vice President and General Manager for MRI.
In September, Metro Imaging, a radiologist-owned and operated group based in St. Louis, Missouri, became the first out-patient imaging centre in the US to have the Hitachi’s OASISTM system. A second OASISTM MR system was to be installed at another of its centres soon after. 
Just one month later, Hitachi installed another OASISTM system at the Imaging Centre in Baxter Village, Fort Mill, South Carolina, which opened in October 2008, and also provides 32-slice CT, Digital X-ray and Ultrasound. ‘We chose the Hitachi OASISTM because of its open architecture and strength,’ explained Dr Geoffrey Gilleland of Rock Hill Radiology Associates. ‘Patient satisfaction from a truly open MRI design has obvious value, but to choose a magnet simply because it is ‘open’ would be a disservice if the magnet could not perform to the highest industry standards. The multichannel coils and gradient performance of the OASISTM made our decision easy. The OASISTM 1.2-Tesla high-field open magnet gives us the image quality for the diagnostic confidence expected from our radiologist and needed by our physician community. It is a pleasure to work with this equipment.’
OASISTM delivers patient comfort while providing high-field image quality and today’s advanced clinical capabilities, Schaffer points out. ‘Its ultra-wide tablee and asymmetric table magnet alignment ensures the unobstructed patient view for all examinations. The patient can always see out – all around, all the time – instead of staring at the inside of a tube.’

28.05.2009

• MRI (745)