When High-Field MRI Triggers Anxiety in Even Non-Claustrophic Patients, Toshiba's OPART Can Make Exams Stress-Free.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

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CHICAGO--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 25, 2001

While some Americans know they are claustrophobic, many people aren't aware of it until they undergo a high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam.

Even when warned of the possible claustrophobia, the limited motion, and the incessant jackhammering noise that can accompany these procedures, most people still don't think it will affect them because they've never had a problem with confined spaces.

"We hear the same thing repeatedly from many patients," said Dr. Mark Winkler, director of MRI, Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging (SDMI), in Las Vegas. "They've never had claustrophobia but unexpectedly experience anxiety while undergoing an MR exam. Their anxiety is often amplified by the fact that they are caught off-guard by their reaction. It's not uncommon to hear these patients vow to never again go through another MR in a closed system. In those cases, we use Toshiba's OPART(R)."

The leader in open, superconducting technology, the OPART by Toshiba was designed with superior technology by replacing the traditional MRI tube design with an open architecture that reduces feelings of enclosure. The OPART's structure allows clinicians to access the patient from all four sides, increasing overall patient care and comfort, and reducing the need for sedation.

This access, along with a table weight capacity of 500 pounds and the largest vertical aperture in the industry, enables the scanning of claustrophobic, anxious, pediatric or bariatric patients with greater ease. Its four-post design also increases magnet stability to ensure image quality doesn't suffer from vibration.

"When the OPART was introduced in 1997, Toshiba was the pioneer in the effort to take high-field applications of a superconducting, mid-range system to the open format," said Anita Bowler, product manager, open MRI. "Today, the OPART is still the industry's most open, cryogenless, superconducting, .35 tesla system."

New high-field applications now available on the mid-field OPART include Steady-State Free Precession (SSFP) and T2 Plus. SSFP is a fast imaging sequence that provides high contrast when evaluating heart and blood vessels in cardiac and abdominal studies. T2 Plus enhances the liquid-to-tissue contrast in brain and spine studies, resulting in a higher resolution image through a shorter scan time.

Additionally, one of the more advanced sequences available on the OPART is the option to perform Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and Perfusion Weighted Imaging (PWI). Traditionally only available on high-field systems, these sequences enable the clinician to expand the open system's applications into stroke detection and blood flow imaging.

About Toshiba

With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., TAMS, the U.S. arm of Toshiba Corp.'s Medical Systems Co. (MSC), 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.

MSC is a world leader in the development of medical imaging equipment, with a product lineup that includes CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, ultrasound and both conventional and vascular X-ray systems. Toshiba is a major provider of electronics and energy systems and products and a $60 billion organization with more than 190,000 employees worldwide.