Updated MRI Technology for Superior Care

by Carrie Chisholm, Marketing Services

Fort HealthCare’s Radiology Department at Fort Memorial Hospital continues to make advances in technology to provide state-of-the-art care for area patients. Its latest acquisition is a 3.0T HD Knee Coil MRI, which provides detailed images of the knee’s anatomy.

Last year, Fort HealthCare updated the Radiology Department’s diagnostic equipment with a 3.0T MRI, a 23,000- ton magnet for the new Signa Infinity MRI system with Excite scanner technology from GE Medical Systems. The hospital received national attention for being the first facility of its size to have this sophisticated technology.

A breast coil system was added as well, allowing doctors to better identify cancerous masses. The best candidates for the breast coil system are women for whom a traditional mammogram isn’t an option or those who have had an abnormal mammogram. The three-dimensional technology scans both breasts at the same time and takes about 40 minutes.

MRI provides an unparalleled view inside the human body. The level of detail is extraordinary compared with other imaging techniques. It’s the method of choice for diagnosing many types of injuries and conditions, especially those involving muscle, bone, organs and soft tissue.

Radiology Technician Todd Gould of HowStuffWorks.com described the MRI process like this: “In effect, an MRI scanner can pick out a very small point inside a person’s body and ask it, ‘What type of tissue are you?’ The point might be a cube that’s half a millimeter on each side. The MRI system goes through the patient’s body, point by point, building up a two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) map of tissue types. It then integrates all of this information to create 2-D images or 3-D models.”

Coils are integral to producing quality films. The coils envelop the area being examined and add detail to the anatomical image. This is particularly important when imaging joints, because the anatomical structures and suspected problem area may be very small.

Fort HealthCare upgraded to an 8- channel coil this past January, which allows for even better image resolution. Said Radiology Department Manager Cathy Hovel, “We can scan faster, which makes the procedure easier to tolerate for the patient.”

During the last several years, Fort HealthCare has developed an excellent professional working relationship with GE HealthCare, the manufacturer of the hospital’s breast and knee coil technologies. “We may seem like a small hospital in a small community, but our diagnostic imaging systems rival those of major medical centers in Madison and Milwaukee,” said Hovel. “We’re big-city technology in a hometown environment.”