It's Siemens Medical Systems' latest 3 Tesla machine. It sports a muscular 45mT/m gradient, with a huge 70 cm open bore. It comes with new coils for the head (12 channels), and the joints (knee, wrist, elbow)- AND a microscopy coil (sweet!).
The expansion of magnet bore from 60 cm to 70 cm may seem a mere 10 cm, but the engineering required to maintain image quality is immense. There is loss of signal toward the periphery of the magnet which reduces homogeneity of the image- and Siemens have overcome this despite the larger diameter.
The result is a larger bore for larger patients, and also for mother to hold her child (so the kid doesn't wiggle away). It also reduces claustrophobia and may allow movement studies to be performed.
The machine is linked back to Siemens Medical Systems' HQ in Germany to monitor performance (patient details are NOT sent). Does this eliminate the local engineers? No, not really. They are still needed to run around and change parts, and do the stuff HQ cannot do electronically.
Specifications (from Siemens' website):
70 cm Open Bore design
Unique 70 cm CT-like patient bore diameter accommodates 36% more patient volume
Table accommodates up to 250 kg or 550 lbs patients
Tim
Up to 102 seamlessly integrated coil elements with up to 32 RF channels.
Up to 50 cm FoV. Whole Body imaging functionality up to 196 cm
iPAT2. Unmatched PAT up to 16.
Compact and light-weight magnet
The shortest 3T system on the market today at only 173 cm system length
Light-weight magnet, only 6.3 tons
I love the bit that says: "Light-weight magnet, only 6.3 tons"!
How has the machine performed clinically? The answer is, it depends. For body imaging, 3T hasn't really been easy to implement. The images are not necessarily better than at 1.5T.
For neuroimaging, the new head coil, together with the advances in software platform and increased field strength result in superior MR angiograms, as well as structural delineation.
Musculoskeletal imaging has benefitted in a different way: image quality has improved marginally, but scan times have dropped. For example, a 20 minute study on a 1.5T Avanto (also Siemens Medical) can be dropped to 13 minutes, with a slight increase in matrix built in.
The increased field strength enables applications like MR spectroscopy (better spectral broadening) and perfusion/diffusion studies.
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