Preston hospital invests in MRI unit for extremities scanning

Russell Dineley, general manager of the Trust’s Imaging Directorate and Medical Illustration Department explained: “We have two hospital sites, and operate three high field large bore MR systems to meet a significantly rising demand for MRI, as well as cross-sectional imaging. Our requirement was for additional MRI procurement that was cost-effective, hence our decision to purchase the O-Scan, which requires less space, less power and lower capital expenditure in terms of associated building costs, compared to a large bore system. Our consultant radiologists are extremely satisfied with the image quality, and have been pleasantly surprised that patient throughput time is comparable to that of large bore scanners.” Dr Chooi Oh, consultant MSK radiologist notes: “My colleagues, Dr Ali, Dr Beardmore, and I perform a lot of knee scans, followed by wrist, ankles, and some elbows. If comparing the O-Scan to a 1.5 tesla unit, we find images are very good. Knee images are particularly good, and O-Scan’s 3D SHARC sequence is extremely good for cartilage. The patient experience is a lot easier and less stressful than a whole-body MRI. When training our colleagues to use O-Scan, they haven’t found it too complex to master.”