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A window behind the monitor where clinical
images appear allows technologists at St.
Mary Medical Center to look into the imaging
suite where the Oasis high-field open MRI
is located.
Business
St. Mary moves to
high-field open MRI
St. Mary Medical Center
By Mark D. Marotta
Reprinted with permission from
rt image
www.rt-image.com j 800-983-7737 j http://careers.rt-image.com
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March 9, 20 0 9
But patients headed up the driveway to St. Mary Imaging,
located just a short walk from an entrance into the hospital, can
be spared such concerns thanks to the hospital’s new high-field
open MRI.
In July 2008, St. Mary announced that it
had become the first clinical site in the U.S. to
offer the Oasis high-field open MRI unit from
Tokyo-based Hitachi Medical Corp., at a cost
of over $3 million. That price tag includes renovations to the imaging suite.
“Actually, it was a pretty easy renovation
because we were replacing an existing system
and the footprint was pretty similar,” says
Daniel J. Cohen, MD, St. Mary’s medical director of MRI. Asked if the benefits of Oasis are
worth the costs, Cohen replies: “In my opinion,
yes. It was time to make the change.”
MRI technologist Brad Hall, RT(MR),
explains that St. Mary’s 1.2-Tesla Oasis replaced
a 0.3-Tesla low-field open unit. “The field
strength is a lot higher than the older open MRI
system,” he says. “The older open MRI systems
were limited in a lot of the studies we could
perform on them.”
“Before the Oasis, our open magnet was
limited,” says Cohen. “It could only do diagnostic images for your basic head, neuro, and
At St. Mary Medical Center, Daniel J. Cohen, MD, medical director
spine work.” The prior unit was limited in the qualof MRI, examines a scan of a thumb with a soft tissue mass.
ity of its musculoskeletal and abdominal work,
and could not perform angiography or diffusion-weighted imaging.
center to take a look at the Oasis, which was going to be on
All those things, and more, are now possible with the Oasis,
display at the Radiologic Society of North America conference in
Cohen says.
Chicago in 2007.
A MATTER OF TIMING
With a staff of more than 600 physicians, 2,400 colleagues,
and 900 volunteers, St. Mary is located about 15 miles northeast
of the city limits of Philadelphia and is licensed for 366 beds. It
is part of Catholic Health East, which includes hospitals from
Maine to Florida.
“That’s why it was kind of a leap of faith. They gave us a lot of good
reasons to wait,” says Cohen. “It’s just the way the timing worked out.”
BIG ADVANTAGES
Compared to other open MRI systems, Oasis has a high-field
strength magnet, a powerful gradient system, and a broad selection
of radiofrequency receiver coils, says Shawn Etheridge, MBA,
|www.rt- image .com|
March 9, 20 0 9
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Mark D. Marotta
P
ULLING INTO THE DRIVEWAY OF ST.
MARY MEDICAL CENTER, in Langhorne,
Pa., one’s first impression is a sense of
passing through a vast expanse of lawn
before the hospital looms into view.
That wide-open space stands in sharp
contrast to the sensations a patient may feel
while being scanned in a closed MRI, where
the tunnel-like experience can create anxiety
and discomfort.
Senior Communicator Kathleen Smith says St. Mary primarily
serves suburban Bucks County, with an “extremely busy” imaging
center, providing both inpatient and outpatient service. In addition
to having such modalities as MRI, X-ray, 64-slice CT, and 3-D
echocardiogram in Langhorne, there is a satellite MRI and CT
imaging center in Richboro, Pa., about seven miles away.
According to Smith, the two locations perform a combined total
of more than 18,000 MRIs a year.
Smith credits Cohen with researching the type of MRI system
to purchase – she calls it “a happy compromise.” Although
patients prefer the environment of open MRIs because it is not “a
tunnel-like experience,” the image quality of such systems can be
an issue for physicians, she says.
According to Cohen, the process of selecting the Oasis, which
he oversaw from the technical and medical standpoint, took
about six months. “There were several options on the market,”
he recalls.
Open MRIs have been in use since the early 1990s. However,
while designed to increase patient comfort and reduce feelings
of claustrophobia, open MRIs had not been able to match the
image quality of high-field systems, which typically have a
cylindrical bore-type design. The Oasis manages to combine an
open MRI system with high-field imaging capabilities.
According to Cohen, St. Mary was about ready to purchase
another open high-field system when Hitachi convinced the medical
GETTING UP AND RUNNING
Hall says the Oasis has not changed the way he does his job –
“We just do it faster, with better image quality.”
|18|
March 9, 20 0 9
Mark D. Marotta
director of MRI marketing for Hitachi Medical Systems America,
in Twinsburg, Ohio.
He adds that the U.S. FDA granted 510(k) clearance to the
Oasis in September 2007, after the system had been extensively
tested at Hitachi’s U.S. headquarters and in Japan.
The name of the Oasis system, Etheridge says, conveys two
messages. First, “it represents a desirable place to be, highlighting
the unique patient comfort benefits that flow from the open MRI
architecture.” Secondly, the Oasis is a solution for radiologists
and hospitals that offers “high-field image quality,” combined
with patient comfort.
“The width of the Oasis opening is essentially infinite, as the
patient never experiences a left or right side ‘wall.’ This is a feature
not available on any bore-type system, irrespective of its length
or diameter,” says Etheridge.
But the biggest advantage of the Oasis is its “superconducting,
actively shielded 1.2-T magnet,” Etheridge says. He adds that the
system is capable of “fast 3-D dynamic imaging capability for breast
and abdomen,” as well as a motion-compensating feature that minimizes the need for rescans and improves imaging quality for ill patients.
Hall says the new system can perform any type of study that can
be done on St. Mary’s two high-field cylindrical bore-type magnets.
For instance, he adds, Oasis can be used for abdominal imaging,
which is of real benefit to patients who are larger than average
or claustrophobic. St. Mary also promotes the new system as accommodating pediatric patients and individuals with limited mobility.
“Basically, what it allows you to do is provide greater patient
comfort, especially for claustrophobic patients, without having to
make the old compromises in the type of studies and quality of
studies,” Cohen says.
St. Mary’s lead MRI technologist, Beth Winder, RT(MR)(CT)(R),
concurs that the Oasis has meant a “great improvement” in the quality
of images, as well as an increase in the quantity of work performed.
With the Oasis averaging about 20 scans per day, Monday through
Friday, it is possible to take images of more patients, she says.
Winder adds, “We have a lot more variations of different coils
that we can use” to get claustrophobic patients through the imaging
process. She explains that the coils used depend on the body
part being scanned. “So, it kind of gives us a lot more options,”
says Winder. For instance, for someone who is extremely
claustrophobic, a solenoid coil typically used for extremity work
can be placed over their forehead, rather than using a helmet coil.
Etheridge says, “Coil sensitivity is a key determinant of
ultimate image quality.” Also, the variety of “closely conforming,
anatomically specific coils” that Oasis offers is comparable to or
better than those of other MRI systems.
Improved imaging is better for the patients, because they do
not need to remain still for as long, Hall says. Whereas imaging
on the old equipment used to take 45 minutes, it now requires
about half that time, he adds; also, because of the increased
speed, additional imaging can be performed, if needed.
“It’s all beneficial,” Hall says. And to add to the patient’s
comfort level, he points out, a set of headphones is available to
listen to music from the radio or a compact disc during scanning.
Also, an armchair is set up near the Oasis, so a friend or loved
one can be present with the patient.
Staff at the St. Mary Imaging Suite demonstrate the use of its new Oasis
high-field open MRI, with patient comfort enhanced by headphones for
listening to music from the radio or a compact disc during scanning.
According to Hall, the imaging center was already familiar
with the Hitachi platform, so it was easy to get acclimated to the
Oasis. He also credits Hitachi training and applications personnel
with being “very helpful.”
Hall says St. Mary sent a couple of people for training for a
week or so at the Hitachi facility in Ohio, where the technology had
been developed.
When asked if the Oasis installation ran as expected, Winder
says adjustments had to be made in the first week or two. Service
and installer people from Hitachi were on-hand to “fine tune
some things,” she adds.
When the new scanner first came on board, Winder says,
technical personnel from Hitachi sat with the imaging suite staff
for about three weeks and explained the system and its features.
She adds that Hitachi returned to the site after the scanner had
been running for a month, to see if there were any questions or
issues. And Hitachi has continued to provide training as the
Oasis has been upgraded.
“I think they go a step above,” Hall says.
St. Mary has had a number of site visits from facilities interested
in purchasing the system, Winder says. A Hitachi representative
is usually on-hand at these times. The visitors see images, and
learn about workflow and scheduling with Oasis.
“Overall, we’re very happy,” Winder says. “It’s been very positive.”
| Mark D. Marotta is assistant editor of rt image. Questions
and comments can be directed to [email protected].
THE PATIENT MAGNET
Everything Improves with a Comfortable Patient
Oasis is the Right MR for Every Patient
The unobstructed view puts even difficult patients at ease. And in every type of scan. The truly
open Oasis can make a difference in the way patients and referring clinicians view your services.
And With Every Clinical Capability
From advanced Neuro and Vascular imaging to comprehensive Body and Ortho applications,
you get the image resolution and clinical flexibility of high-field strength imaging.
This is Your OASIS – Look into the High-Field MR with Advantages for Everyone.
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