High Slew Rate 1.5 T MRI Designed for Advanced MR Applications

Certain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams such as advanced cardiac and neuroimaging require a system with enhanced gradients for better image quality and quicker exams. For these applications, a new 1.5 Tesla (T) MR system has been developed with high slew rate gradients and new user interface, M-Power.

Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) presented the new Vantage Titan HSR at the 2010 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, held in Chicago, IL, USA, November 28-December 3, 2010.

The high slew rate (HSR) gradients (gradient strength 30 [mT/m] | slew rate 203 [mT/m/ms]) of the Titan HSR improve the capability for advanced cardiac and neurological applications as well as MR angiography (MRA) body, breast, and abdominal imaging. The new gradients improve temporal and spatial resolution and the ability for clinicians to make accurate diagnoses. The M-Power interface has many new efficiency tools as well as sophisticated postprocessing software available on the main console, enhancing department workflow. The system also features an open bore that is 18% larger than other 1.5 T systems on the market and features a large 71-cm patient aperture, excellent homogeneity, and an extremely high clinical field-of-view (FOV) of 55 cm x 55 cm x 50 cm, providing a very high level of patient care and diagnostic capability in MR imaging.

The Vantage Titan HSR is an enhancement to the Vantage Titan and therefore includes numerous patient-friendly features. The Vantage Titan HSR's patient-focused features significantly improve patient comfort and increase the range of patients who can be imaged with MR. The open bore provides a greater feeling of openness for the patient, and Toshiba's patented Pianissimo technology dramatically reduces acoustic noise, the most significant cause of patient discomfort during an MR exam. The Vantage Titan HSR also utilizes Toshiba's Atlas SPEEDER integrated coil technology to reduce exam time and improve the overall exam experience for patients. Because the coils are integrated into the table, patients do not need to be continually repositioned, which saves time and improves patient comfort. Moreover, many procedures can be performed feet first with a patient's head comfortably lying outside of the bore, considerably reducing claustrophobia.

The Vantage Titan HSR MR system also takes advantage of Toshiba's proprietary, contrast-free MRA techniques: fresh blood imaging (FBI), contrast-free improved angiography (CIA), time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time-SLIP) and time space angiography (TSA). Contrast-free imaging is particularly important because gadolinium, the most common contrast agent used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRA exams, has been directly linked to a sometimes-fatal disease that occurs in patients with renal insufficiency, called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy (NFD).

"Combining high slew rate gradients with the Vantage Titan's patient-focused features creates the premium 1.5 T MR system on the market,” said Stuart Clarkson, director, MR business unit, Toshiba. "Advanced MR applications are allowing patients to undergo safer imaging with no radiation, all while providing highly accurate information for diagnosis.”

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