> Home > About Us > News/Events

February 19, 2008

HRMC purchases second MRI

Haywood Regional Medical Center’s second magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system arrived Monday. A crane carefully lowered the massive unit down a 12-foot pit constructed specially for the new MRI.

As the unit reached the bottom of the pit, workers were standing by to unwrap the straps and plastic covering and slide the machine into its resting place in a room added adjacent to the original MRI unit in the radiology department on the first floor of the hospital.

The entry hole had to be prepared because of the size and weight of the MRI system. It took two days to dig the hole and two days to cut an entrance in the concrete foundation wall, said Ernie Fuller of Clark & Leatherwood Construction of Waynesville.

A steel frame will seal the opening, which can be unbolted to open the area back up, and the 12-foot hole will be filled back in with dirt. That will reduce the cost of reopening the area in the future, Fuller said.

HRMC’s demand for MRI studies warranted a second system, said HRMC Radiology Director Russell Cain, and the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation approved a certificate of need for the unit in August 2007.

“We work 6:30 a.m. until midnight and weekends and have a patient every half-hour,” Cain said. “This new unit will double our capacity and allow us to provide the service in a more expeditious manner to meet the needs that we have already. With our current patient volume, we can already justify a third MRI.”

An MRI scan is a radiology technique that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images of body structures. The MRI scanner is a tube surrounded by a giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on a moveable bed that is inserted into the magnet. A computer processes the information and an image is produced. Often, surgery can be deferred or more accurately directed after knowing the results of an MRI scan.

The new MRI system HRMC purchased has it all: clear brain images on a moving patient, a whole-abdomen exam in one breath-hold, ultra-fast images and clarity, said Dr. Mark Mittelman, a radiologist at HRMC.

“This unit has new software tools, such as one that suppresses any motion, and one that produces high resolution brain imaging,” he said. “It also has all new state-of-the-art coils. The coils sense the signals an MRI makes, which is crucial for creating a clear image.

“We know the safety profile of the 1.5 and are much more aware of what it can achieve in providing excellent images,” Mittelman said. “This array of coils provides the best overall imaging for the population we serve. It provides excellent musculoskeletal imaging, central nervous system imaging, brain imaging, and breast MRI, as well as exceptional capability for imaging of the thorax and abdomen.”

A GE team will connect the MRI cables and complete the set-up. All radiology technicians will be trained to operate the new system, which should be ready to use within three weeks, Cain said.