New Delhi: If you dreaded taking MRI test, it was not for nothing. The experience of being entered into the tight tunnel and consistent jarring sounds thereafter would really be harrowing. The claustrophobia, extreme and irrational fear of confined places, proved so prohibitive that a good number of patients would flinch and refuse to enter.
But in BLK Super Speciality hospital all this is passé now. The new super advanced MRI that hospital has installed not long ago entertains the patient instead. In the midst of test taking place, the patient can watch a movie, hear songs or listen to chants of mantra. The ambience inside the MRI room is aesthetically satisfying. Add to it the substantially enhanced quality of imaging and sizable reduction in time. The high resolution image has made diagnosis lot more accurate. For now, BLK happens to be the only hospital in South East Asia to have this MRI.
While explaining the new fully digitized extraordinary MRI machine, Dr. Prem Kumar Ganesan– Director & HOD, Radiology and Imaging said, ‘The ground breaking MRI machine called Signa Artist Wide Bore 96 Channel Digital MRI system has brought a lot of benefits to patients and radiologists as well, which are missing from traditional MRI. The fear factor is almost gone. Due to fear of test, 20 percent of my patients would refuse to take the test in the earlier traditional MRI machine. In cases where MRI imaging was necessary, the patients would have to be sedated or induced with sleep. As for time, it would take 21 to 35 minutes for the scan. That time has been reduced to 10 to 15 minutes. The brain scan would be complete just in 5 minutes as if magic band were flourished.
Dr Dhrub Dinesh Jain, Associate Consultant, Dept. of Radiology and Imaging, BLK said, ‘This most advanced technology delivers a new level of clinical performance with additional research-focused capabilities, especially for Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopaedics and Oncology. The state of the art new MRI system with wide bore helps ease anxiety concerns with tight spaces and reduces claustrophobia.’
This machine can scan any body part going head or feet first. This works wonder in reducing patient anxiety. Feet first scanning is available for all body parts and that helps in making the procedure less claustrophobic for many patients.
‘From the patients perspective this advanced machine significantly reduces scan time. A brain scan with Magic sequence can be done in five minutes which would have otherwise taken at least 20 minutes. As a standard biomarker in oncology diffusion imaging plays a critical role in cancer detection and staging, the whole body diffusion can be done in 20 minutes which is a major achievement also SIGNA Artist uses intelligent quantitative solutions to automatically detect and correct distortion, artefacts and motion,’ added Dr. Prem Kumar Ganesan.
The New System offers multiple startling advances in imaging with Tractography and advanced Functional Imaging. Another unique feature is the reduction of noise inside the MRI machine. The quieter machine and the new in bore experience which allows the patients to choose music and videos of their choice to be viewed during scan makes the overall patient experience much more enjoyable and allows the technicians to smoothly and efficiently complete the scan.
‘The spatial and temporal resolution of Signa Artist is amazing providing much clearer and sharper images there by increasing the confidence of the radiologist in making correct and accurate diagnosis’ added Dr Prem Ganesan.
