December 21, 2012 — At the 98th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in November, GE Healthcare introduced two new 1.5T MR (magnetic resonance) systems: Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire. Both are intended to address the demand for increased patient comfort, increased productivity and reduced total cost of ownership under the GE guiding principle of “Humanizing MR.”
The Optima MR360 Advance is a 1.5T system that is designed to enhance the patient’s MR experience while improving productivity and clinical confidence. This system’s technology is engineered to balance refined workflow capabilities and a broad array of clinical applications, while improving the patient’s MR experience.
GE MR’s Caring Design is welcoming for the patient and intuitive for the technologist; the exclusive Needle Free Suite of clinical applications can help reduce the need for biopsy, contrast and sedation for patients. The system is intended to offer 16 channels and newly designed RF coils that further improve image quality and productivity.
The Brivo MR355 Inspire is designed to be a practical and easy-to-use 1.5T MR system with a broad array of clinical applications that is intended to enhance diagnostic confidence for clinicians, with intuitive workflow and a user interface that enhances productivity. This system is engineered to marry the diagnostic benefits of high-performance MR technology with a low total cost of ownership. The Brivo MR355 Inspire also features the new Caring Design to improve patient comfort.
Both the Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire are intended to be available with GE’s Express coil technology that was designed to be intuitive and easy for technologists to use without sacrificing image quality. This is also paired with a new low-height table for easy patient access, even for larger patients.
Both systems are designed to feature the OpTix Optical RF technology, which offers high channel count, analog to digital signal conversion where needed – inside the scan room to minimize noise and signal degradation, but away from the patient to enhance comfort and safety. OpTix provides up to 27 percent higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over conventional, analog signal receivers, improving image quality and clinical confidence.
Both systems are engineered to use ecomagination-qualified technologies like efficient gradients, water-cooling, super capacitors, and a power distribution unit with a 28 percent lower energy rating, reducing energy consumption by 34 percent compared to previous generations.
The Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire are pending 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and not available for sale in the United States. They are not available for sale in all areas globally.
For more information: www.gehealthcare.com