SOUTH KINGSTOWN – South County Health announced it has installed a new Siemans Magnetom Aera magnetic resonance imaging unit late last month.
According to Lenore Durand, manager of the diagnostic imaging department at South County Hospital, the advantages of this new MRI unit benefit patients and physicians who rely on imaging as a tool in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illness.
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“Now we will bring breast MRI and biopsies into our program, which will be a tremendous asset for our Cancer Center,” Durand said in a South County Health announcement. “We’ll also be able to provide prostate scans, which we didn’t have the technology to do before.”
Durand cites these benefits to patients: Scan that once took 45 minutes will now take about 25 minutes; many scans can now be administered “feet first,” which benefits those who feel claustrophobic or confined in the traditional “head-first” MRI unit; and the unit does not have the traditional MRI “banging” noise. In addition, patients with compatible, MRI-conditional cardiac pacemakers will be able to have MRI exams when needed. “Previously, no one with a pacemaker could have an MRI,” said Durand.
The project began in April when construction crews dismantled and removed the existing MRI. During the transition, a mobile MRI trailer was brought to South County Hospital to provide uninterrupted service to patients. The new MRI was delivered and installed early in June and later calibrated and extensively tested to ensure performance compliance.
Nancy Kirsch is a PBN contributing writer.
