MR Technology Proves Less Stressful for Old, Young, and Claustrophobic Patients

A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system will provide an improvement in care for claustrophobic, elderly, or very young patients, or those who are in pain and require a larger imaging system.

The Discovery MR750w 3.0T’s wide-bore technology and innovative new design has the patients comfort in mind, and includes advanced light-emitting diode (LED) accent lights, a 70-cm-flared patient bore, and feet-first imaging for all anatomies. The MIR system features high-performance gradients optimized for short TRs (repetition times) and TEs (echo delay time), consistent clarity and uniformity with MultiDrive radiofrequency (RF) Transmit, and a large 50 x 50 x 50 cm field-of-view.

The first UK installation of the GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK) Discovery MR750w 3.0T system has been unveiled in a purpose-built Clinical Imaging and Research Center in East Anglia, which will provide a platform for cutting-edge research as well as excellent patient care. The new GE Healthcare technology will provide an improvement in care for claustrophobic, elderly, or very young patients, or those who are in pain and require a larger imaging system.

Speaking at the launch of the new unit, consultant radiologist, Dr. Paul Malcolm, MRI lead for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and honorary lecturer at the University of East Anglia (UK) stated that the GE Healthcare installation will allow the hospital to perform research in areas such as the function of the human gut and obesity, which are being investigated on the Norwich Research Park.

Prof. Andrew Stewart Coats, chief executive of Norwich Research Park added that the technology helps make the hospital among the “top of the class in the UK.” He noted that the installation has already started to draw the attention of world-leading clinicians and scientists in gut and bone disease, microbiology, and wasting disorders.

Commenting on the installation, Bettina Fitt, GE Healthcare’s UK general manager, said, “The Discovery MR750w is part of a new generation of scanners which are all about ‘humanizing radiology’--making it more comfortable and less stressful for the patient, and in turn helping the radiologist to do their job more effectively.”

Anna Dugdale, chief executive of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, urged hospital leaders from across the UK National Health Service (NHS) to make the investment for their hospital citing the machine’s efficiency, the improved experience for the patient as well as its research potential.

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