ST. FRANCIS INSTALLS NEW IMAGE DEVICE

Overweight? Scared? Not a problem.

By mid-June, more patients of Southeast Missouri and surrounding areas will be able to receive medical examinations they either couldn't or were afraid to undergo before.

Saturday, workers used a crane and removed a portion of St. Francis Medical Center's roof to begin installation of a new $1.6-million magnetic resonance imaging device. It will be three weeks before the device is operational.

An MRI scanner is similar to a CAT scan, but it uses radio waves instead of X-rays to reconstruct internal images of a patient to detect head and spinal injuries. A patient lies on a table that slides into a magnetic tube where the imaging takes place.

The new Philips High Field Gyroscan MRI scanner is the latest in technology and will benefit, not only doctors, but more patients.

The scanner's physical and imaging features make it more patient friendly than the hospital's previous scanner, especially to those who are heavier or claustrophobic, said Drs. Mark Gates and Scott Campbell, the hospital's radiologists.

The new scanner is the first "open" magnetic resonance system. Instead of the entire table being enclosed in an approximate 7-foot tube, the magnet is ultra compact, wider and flared at the end.

"Patients don't have to go in as far," Gates said. "Therefore, patients who experienced claustrophobia before, shouldn't experience it now."

A study by a national sales company shows that 10 percent to 15 percent of the general patient population needed an MRI last year, but they did not follow through with the examination due to obesity or claustrophobia, said Ernie Adams, director of the hospital's radiology department.

With the scanner's new configuration, "a child could even be in there and the mother could sit and put a hand in with the child," said Dr. Mike Higgins, department chair. "

The new magnet also accommodates a table with an increased weight limit. Whereas the old scanner used a table with a 300-pound weight limit, the new one supports 550 pounds.

"Larger patients who couldn't get an MRI before and needed it can use it now," Gates said.

Patients also benefit from the more advanced scanner because it is faster, much quieter and less invasive, Gates said.

The new MRI is not only more patient friendly, its technological abilities appeal to doctors.

The new MRI's 1.5 Tesla magnetic field, the highest commercially available magnet, improves image quality, Gate said.

"The new MRI can image stroke patients faster, which allows for quicker treatment," Gates said.

In some cases, the new scanner will eliminate the need for angiographic studies. Improved pulse sequences rid the need for doctors to inject a dye into the patient to detect injury with image contrasts.

Although the new machine is more powerful than the hospital's predecessor, it is smaller and cheaper to operate.

The old scanner, which was traded in to reduce the hospital's cost to $1.11 million, will be shipped to a third-world country for use.

The hospital received a temporary mobile magnet Tuesday to use until the new MRI's installation is completed. It will take three weeks to hook up the computers and cool the magnet for use.