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Siemens designed Espree - Pink for breast MRI studies.

Siemens is ramping up its activities in breast MRI with the launch of Magnetom Espree - Pink, a new version of the Espree 1.5-tesla scanner that’s optimized for breast imaging. The scanner includes an 8-channel breast coil from Sentinelle Medical of Toronto that can be used for both imaging and biopsy applications.

Siemens is emphasizing Espree’s wide 70-cm aperture and 125-cm bore length as making the system more patient-friendly for breast MRI scans, while the system’s 550-lb table limit makes it possible to scan larger patients. Espree - Pink will begin shipping in early 2009.

Siemens is also talking up syngo Brevis, a multimodality workstation for breast MR and mammography, as well as new dedicated breast coils for 1.5-tesla and 3-tesla scanners using its Total image matrix (Tim) coil concept. An advanced imaging coil will be available with 16 radiofrequency channels.

Meanwhile, Siemens isn’t ignoring men’s health — the company is highlighting syngo Tissue 4D, an application for analyzing dynamic data from prostate and liver MRI studies. Tissue 4D has two types of workflow, standard and pharmacokinetic modeling (PKM). PKM quantifies contrast uptake and can be used for oncology workflow and follow-up studies.

Another new MRI application, syngo TimCT Oncology, is designed to enable continuous table movement for extended field-of-view imaging. Siemens believes the application reduces the need for rescheduling multiple exams — for example, a pelvic exam can be completed in as little as 20 minutes.

Finally, Siemens is introducing syngo Grace @ 3T, a quantitative MR breast spectroscopy application that monitors choline as a biomarker, providing information on the biochemical composition of breast lesions. Preliminary results indicate that detection of choline signal in breast tumors correlates with breast cancer, and Siemens believes that checking relative choline concentration during therapy makes treatment monitoring more reliable.

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MRIs Are a Breeding Ground for Super Bugs Like MSRA

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The brains of homosexual men resemble those of heterosexual women, while lesbians’ brains show similarities with those of straight men, a study published Monday showed.

Researchers at the Stockholm Brain Institute in Sweden investigated “two separate parameters, both unlikely to be directly affected by learned patterns and behavior” in 90 men and women — 50 heterosexual and 40 homosexual — using magnetic resonance imagery (MRI). Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES, June 12 (UPI) — Brain imaging scans show sleep apnea patients have brain tissue loss in areas that help store memory, U.S. researchers said.

In sleep apnea, a sleeper’s breathing is halted as the airway is blocked by muscle and other tissue. The condition is characterized by loud bursts of snoring and chronic fatigue. The researchers suggest early diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea may help forestall memory loss. Read the rest of this entry »

The Chairman of the Health Protection Agency, Sir William Stewart today announced that the Agency’s Board had approved in principle the need for an epidemiological study of possible adverse health effects from high static field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines.

Sir William said: “MRI scanning has some undoubted benefits in medicine, especially as an aid to accurate clinical diagnosis. However we need to bear in mind that the magnetic fields produced by the machines are quite substantial and that these fields are increasing in order to achieve improved clarity of image. The exposures to patients and medical staff from the magnetic fields can be high and there is a shortage of information on possible adverse long term health effects. The Agency’s Board therefore considers more research is needed in this area.” Read the rest of this entry »

When examining patients via MRI or Radiology, many health care clinics have their patients use eye covers (masks). Since a mask with metal parts is not acceptable for use with this high-tech equipment, Weber’s newly designed: MRI Safe Eye Covers, with plastic instead of metal parts, meets this need at very low cost. Read the rest of this entry »

As important as the MRI is in detecting disease and abnormalities deep within the human body, the process carries certain risks that have only recently come to light. Risks from imaging agents such as gadolinium, and recent concern over the long-term impact of the magnetic fields associated with Magnetic Resonance Imaging, can pose serious health risks for some patients, sometimes resulting in death. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, MRI has been increasingly accepted by radiologists, surgeons and patients to image the rectum because of its superior soft tissue contrast and multi-planar capability,” said Chuanfu Li, MD, lead author of the study. “Most rectal MRI studies have used field strength of 1.5 Tesla or less. Only two recent studies focus on 3T MRI for diagnosing and staging rectal cancer. “No standard protocol is available for 3T MRI of the rectum, which may cause inconsistent diagnostic accuracy among institutions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the image quality of various 3T MR sequences for preoperative staging and planning of sphincter sparing rectal cancer resection,” he said. Read More