Onley, VA – A critical piece of diagnostic equipment at the new Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital (RSMH) was delivered and installed on January 11.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a cornerstone asset in any hospital imaging department. MRIs use a powerful magnet, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed digital pictures of the inside of a patient’s body. It is especially useful for soft structures such as organs or for areas of bleeding, and it is commonly used to diagnose and monitor conditions within the chest, abdomen and pelvis among other areas.
Riverside’s investment in this state-of-the-art wide-bore MRI will pay off for patients in its comfort. Scan times are shorter, so the patient spends less time in the MRIs ‘bore’, or the hollow tube in the center of the machine. Additionally, the bore is shorter than traditional MRIs and is larger in diameter. This makes for a more comfortable patient experience without sacrificing image quality as can happen with open MRIs.
Riverside’s new MRI was installed inside the Imaging Department in a shielded room which keeps the magnet from affecting other equipment nearby. The MRI suite was designed for privacy and includes a private changing room, bathroom and waiting area.
“We have the Cadillac of MRIs,” stated Matthew Booth, Director of Imaging Services at RSMH. “Our patients are going love their MRI experience, and our physicians will love the image quality from this new machine. Our
About the Author
That machine looks similar to the closed array MRI they have in the truck beside the old Nassawaddox hospital. Several years ago I had to do a scan there and after about 15 minutes I became claustrophobic and had to end the scan with no results generated. The technician told me there was a 40% failure rate in completing the scan I needed done because so many patients could not stay in the tube that long. I ended up going to VA Beach where they had a much newer open array machine and had the scan done with no problems whatsoever. Since then I’ve had several more scans done, all in open array machines. Never had a problem and the doctors never complained about the results.
I’m not a doctor, but from many patients point of view, the closed array machines are a disaster.