High-performance MR is only an upgrade away: the Saga Medical Center Koseikan experience

Transforming a 9-year-old scanner into a top of the line 3.0T

The upgrade to Elition included the new Vega gradient which delivered high SNR and sharp, clean images while also shortening scan times, delivering the clinical boost that was desired.By upgrading the existing scanner instead of installing an entirely new magnet, SMC Koseikan was able to reduce construction costs and minimize downtime, avoiding costly interruptions to their scanning and emergency operations. Finally, the upgrade reused several components of the original scanner while refreshing the rest, reducing the environmental impact of the upgrade and keeping the carbon footprint of SMC Koseikan’s MR operations low.

Sharper and cleaner images without increasing scan times, thanks to the Vega gradient and SmartSpeed

The team at SMC Koseikan was impressed by the image quality of the new system, “after installing the new Vega gradient, we were surprised by the sharp and clean images that we could produce even in short scan times.

SMC no longer had to choose between short scan times and high image quality, now they could achieve both. In addition, slicing thickness has decreased in limb joints, and they have seen uniformity improvements in wide-area imaging – another benefit of upgrading to the Vega gradient. The entire spine used to take three stations to capture, but the SmartPath to Elition X upgrade has decreased that to two stations, resulting in a reduction of total imaging time.

However, hardware isn’t the only thing that has been updated in the imaging department, SmartSpeed AI has further enhanced imaging operations and made it possible to obtain images with high SNR in a short period of time.

With the reduction in scan times, SMC Koseikan has been able to expand their routine imaging protocols, adding 3D sequences that have been highly praised by the radiologist team as easy to read. These scan efficiency improvements also benefit patients that struggle with lengthy MR exams, for example claustrophobic patients, as SMC Koseikan can speed up the scan time without compromising image quality. Next to these general benefits on scan times and image quality, SMC also discovered benefits to specific imaging techniques.

Reducing backlog agenda and creating space for emergency patients

With SMC Koseikan’s policy of accepting all requests and scanning emergency patients on the same day, MR staff had previously been overwhelmed with examinations and struggled to manage the case load. With the introduction of SmartPath to Ingenia Elition X, imaging time has been reduced while simultaneously improving image quality, creating more space in the scanning calendar and reducing overtime work for clinicians.

Outside the exam room, 8 Radiologists rotate through MR examinations, and having two scanners with a unified user interface has also benefited reading practices and improved overall efficiency of the radiology department.