PRESS RELEASE

March 17, 2009 

A towering crane hauls the new Open-Bore MAGNETOM Espree MRI unit to its second-floor location at Bradford Regional Medical Center.

BRMC Installing High-Field Open MRI With Far Greater Accuracy and Comfort

The days of feeling claustrophobic when undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam at Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) are about to end as the hospital received Tuesday one of the most advanced and accurate diagnostic units available in the healthcare industry. 

BRMC is in the process of installing an Open-Bore MAGNETOM Espree MRI unit that offers far more room for larger patients and eliminates claustrophobic concerns while still providing high-field quality diagnostic images. The cost for the equipment and Imaging Services Department construction project totals $1.7 million. 

"This new MRI is going to greatly increase our efficiency and patient convenience," according to Tim Brown, BRMC’s Administrative Director of Imaging and Cardiovascular Service. "The patient-friendly design of this MRI will make it easier for large patients and those with claustrophobia to have a MRI examination which produces higher quality images." 

Because of its state-of-the-art design and technical advances, more than 70 percent of patients undergoing an MRI examination will have their head outside the unit without compromising accuracy, Mr. Brown notes. 

"For many exams, your feet go in first and your head remains outside of the unit. That has never been possible before in the High-Field Open MRI. But most important of all, the power is three times greater than the conventional Open MRI and assures that your doctor gets the most confident diagnosis," he says. 

Following installation and BRMC staff training, this new MRI from Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc. will be available for use by referring physicians and direct patient appointments starting April 13. To make appointments, call 814-362-8200. 

An open house for the community and hospital family will be held sometime in April, with additional details being announced shortly. 

Until the MAGNETOM Espree is operating, though, the hospital will continue to use a mobile MRI located behind The Pavilion at BRMC, near the intersections of North Bennett and Summer streets. 

For hospital officials, continuing investments to upgrade and acquire the latest technologies for the benefit and convenience of patients in the region is all part of ongoing strategic planning. 

"It’s another indication that we continue to strive to be technologically advanced, as providers of high-quality healthcare services," explains George E. Leonhardt, Bradford Regional’s President/CEO. "We want to be sure that patients across the communities we serve continue to have access to the most advanced, up-to-date diagnostics and therapeutic modalities that are available today." The project for the MAGNETOM Espree brings the most powerful and accurate MRI in the region to BRMC and its patients, officials note. 

The MAGNETOM Espree has a 70-centimeter bore opening for added patient comfort. Additionally, it has 16 channels, 12 more than the previous unit BRMC had since 2004, allowing several times more data to be processed in half the period while providing extremely high resolution. 

The MRI exam is primarily a medical imaging technique most commonly used to visualize the structure and function of the body. It provides detailed images with greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body. Also, it is particularly useful in neurological conditions, disorders of the muscles and joints, for evaluating tumors and showing abnormalities of the heart and blood vessels. 

When necessary, "We will now be able to scan patients without having to inject contrasting agents," Mr. Brown notes. This is particularly important to patients with renal insufficiency. 

Along with all these performance advantages the MAGNETOM Espree brings a new feature, the addition of breast MRI capabilities for patients who were previously referred out of the area for testing. "Breast MRI is 25 percent more accurate than a diagnostic mammogram and patients in our service area can now remain close to home for their women’s health services," Mr. Brown remarks. 

The MAGNETOM Espree also brings expanded capabilities for neurological, cardiology and oncology exams. "This MRI has a lot more capability in terms of what it can do and it’s very fast," says Michael Maresca, M.D., BRMC’s Chief of Radiology. "The patients are not only more comfortable but patients are in there 50 percent less. This is a whole new way of performing MRIs in terms of comfort and image quality." 

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