Installation of Patient-Friendly MRI System Delivers Patient Comfort, Accurate Clinical Results

Cass City, MI 12/17/2004 – Thumb MRI Center, LLC is now offering patients the opportunity to undergo significantly more comfortable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams with the recent installation of the Vantage™ MRI system from Toshiba America Medical Systems.
The Vantage is designed to improve the patient experience with new, exclusive patient comfort features. Highlights include the world’s shortest magnet and an ultra-short bore platform, which offers greater openness for claustrophobic patients by minimizing the feeling of being inserted into a tube-like machine. In addition, the system is equipped with Toshiba’s patented Pianissimo™ noise reduction technology, which effectively reduces scan noise by as much as 90 percent.

“ We are thrilled to have the new Vantage system and its technology available to our patients. Over the years, patients have had concerns with claustrophobia and overall comfort during MRI scans. Now, we can alleviate many of these issues,” said Diane Ruhlman, Clinic Director. “The short-bore design also makes the system feel more open, and the quietness of the Vantage during scanning is more calming for the patient. When the patient is more at ease, we have greater success with the scan and capture better images to help the physician make a confident diagnosis.”

In addition to its patient comfort features, the Vantage is a high-field MRI system that performs a wide variety of MRI exams including the latest state-of-the-art imaging techniques. For example, the system enables physicians to perform studies including cardiac imaging, EPI functional perfusion, and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Using an advanced MRA technique, physicians can simultaneously view images of vascular structures in the chest and abdomen without the use of contrast agents, which furthers patient comfort, reduces cost and allows the scan to be performed repeatedly, if needed.

“ As medical technology becomes more and more sophisticated, we are able to image and evaluate more medical conditions at earlier stages than ever before. With early diagnosis, we can more effectively plan for a successful treatment,” commented Diane Ruhlman, Director “By expanding our capabilities to perform more advanced MRI studies and deliver outstanding clinical images, our physicians will have even more clinical data to improve their diagnosis and offer more advanced medical service to patients.”

How MRI Works
Instead of relying on X-rays like other imaging technologies, MRI uses a powerful magnet approximately 7,000-times stronger than the magnetic force of the earth. During an exam, the patient lies inside the donut-like opening of the magnet. The hydrogen atoms in the patient’s body react to the magnetic field, the computer reads signals from the atom formation and reconstructs data into detailed images of the body’s interior.

MRI technology is used to identify tumor masses and other abnormalities in the head, spine, chest, abdomen, pelvis and extremities, as well as to examine bone and joint injuries. Frequently, this type of diagnostic information cannot be acquired with any other medical procedure, except surgery.


About Toshiba
With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., Toshiba America Medical Systems markets, sells, distributes and services diagnostic imaging systems, coordinates clinical diagnostic imaging research and has responsibility for research and development for all modalities in the United States. Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, an independent group company of Toshiba Corporation, is a world leader in the development of medical imaging equipment, with a product line-up that includes CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and both conventional and vascular X-ray systems. Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems. Toshiba has 166,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over $47 billion.