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Som Panicker
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In India, MRI is considered as a high tech medical imaging equipment where majority of the India population has still no access primarily because most of the MR units are installed in private sector and the high cost of scanning cannot be affordable by common man.
In most of the Indian states, the public health system is not able to purchase or maintain a high value medical equipment like MRI systems and so suggesting or selecting a right kind of MRI for such system is very important and it needs special mention of all open and hidden costs of running a high value equipment like MRI.
MRI units are generally considered into two segments, namely superconducting which has a field strength of 1T to 3T and the most popular permanent or open systems where field strength ranges from 0.3T to o.45T.
Even though superconducting high Tesla MRI has superior image quality due to its high specifications the initial cost, power consumption and maintenance are very high whereas permanent MRIs has relatively low cost, low power consumption and a reasonable good image quality.
Superconducting MRI require liquid helium, chiller, high power, heavy duty air conditioning etc making it very expensive to maintain and a rough estimate can be around Rs 25 lakhs towards the comprehensive service contract (CMC) for maintaining such systems in a year.
Superconducting MRI requires at least 100-120 KVA mains power supply which makes the electricity charges at least Rs two lakh per month leads to a whopping Rs 24 lakh per year. Another big risk factor is in an event of long power failure or air-conditioning failure, the magnet can Quench (A phenomena where all the liquid helium evaporates suddenly and escapes through the vent value making the magnet lose its magnetism). This sudden failure of the magnet can cost more towards refilling helium and the downtime of the equipment incurs extra losses. Adding to this there could be further delay due to non-availability of liquid helium which is normally imported from abroad.
Every superconducting MR facility requires liquid helium and there is a shortage of this inert gas all over the world as the resources for this natural gas is very limited. This is one of the reasons why most of the manufacturers of superconducting magnets improve to reduce the helium boil off. Today many types of magnets with helium refill frequency ranging from two to 10 years are available, but they are also very expensive and require periodic change of cold head assembly making further periodic investment.
For patients it is sometime a scary experience to go into a tunnel like superconducting MRI and this is called claustrophobia. At least one out of ten patients face this difficulty and so the acceptability and popularity of superconducting MRI are not so good like permanent (Open) MRI.
In a nutshell, running a superconducting MR system is at least eight times costlier than a permanent MR system and the quality is not so much compromised. Today there is an improvement in technology and image quality of permanent magnet and as a result field strengths of upto 0.45T are available and they are economical to install and easy to maintain. A high-end 0.7T permanent MRI is also getting ready for commercial sale from MDT, US.
Whenever we think about a public health system or state-run MRI units , the initial cost and running cost are two major factors making the system difficult to run. Considering at least 10 years of an equipment life for an MR system, the running cost of the superconducting MR for a period of 10 years can even equal three times the original cost of the equipment.
Advantages of having a permanent MRI system in a state run or public health system:
- Low initial cost. It helps to decide the project much faster as the funds can be managed for initial purchase
- Less space for installation, normally a MRI is installed on the ground floor
- Easy installation due to less no of components
- Low power consumption only 20 KVA power needed
- Low air-conditioning costs only two, three tonne ducted split units for the magnet cooling
- Easy handling of software
- Easy handling of patients due to open design
- No sedation required
- Two-year warranty for the permanent MRI system
- Normally only AMC is recommended
- CMC charges also less than half of a superconducting system
- Easy and economical upgrade of software and hardware
- Availability of high field strengths of up to 0.45T now, 0.7T works in progress also
- No discomforts for patients due to low noise
A unique product
US-based Multi Dimensional Technologies (MDT) is a company (represented by Sanrad Medical Systems, Mumbai) instituted by a group of MR scientists from MIT and Harvard University and they have done many innovations in the field of permanent MRI.
MDT’s permanent MR technology has many world’s first including dynamic balancing, high order active shimming and self shielded gradient coil designs.
ELIXBO 545 is the world’s first 4500 Gauss whole-body permanent magnet open MRI system, which is a milestone in the history of MRI. At 4500 Gauss, MDT’s ELIXBO 545 surpassed the open MRI strength limit predicted years ago for permanent magnet systems.
ELIXBO 545 MRI system is a brand new product benefiting from the companies’ patented dynamic balancing technology, whose design philosophy is based on targeting the electromagnetic field. This is achieved by integrating the design of magnet, gradient and RF systems into one process. ELIXBO 545 MRI is characterised by its’ high-quality images and fast acquisitions, making the clinical applications of advanced technologies feasible in low-fields.
MDT is the first company in the world to bring out some of the most talked about innovations in MR technology such as:
- Divided Current Active Shielding Technology (DCAST) which will reduce the eddy current and residual magnetisation
- High order Active Shimming (HAOS) helps in preventing field drift and thus improve homogeneity of the magnet
- High Flux Efficiency Pole Design (HFEPD) technology will help to maintain field strength vs weight of the magnet making ELIXBO 545 one of the lightest available in the world with just 12T weight for the magnet
- ELIXBO 545 has homogeneity less than 0.9ppm, one of the best so far among permanent MRI designs
- The gradient strength, which is the critical parameter for high definition quality imaging like EPI, DWI is 25mT/m with a slew rate of 55mT/m/s, making MDT one of the most technically perfect systems
What makes this product unique?
The product makes use of protected core technologies. The key to acquire high quality images and establish a stable imaging environment in a permanent magnet system
- Protected core technology
- Lightweight magnet design
- Self-shielded gradient design
- Active shimming minimising eddy currents and ghosting
- Flat coil design
- Best of industry homogeneity close to superconducting systems
- Image quality matching with high field superconducting systems
- Minimum power consumption
- High Power Gradient Strength and Slew Rate
Main features and benefits
It consists of an intelligent system design
- The laser-guided patient handling system is designed for patient comfort and scan control convenience. 3D omni-access can position patient body parts optimally
- Patient comfort space is provided by soft lighting, integrated audio system and ventilation
- Self-diagnosis and remote diagnosis abilities ensure fast and efficient customer service and long-term customer satisfaction
- Magnet on-board dual LCD console with controls provides communication, image display and scan control capabilities within the shielding room
- Equipped with an array of RF coils with multi-channel phased-array capability
Customer advantages
- Significant clinical advantages are:
- Faster – faster imaging speed
- Higher – higher resolution and SNR
- Gating – all three types like cardiac, respiratory and pulse
- Breath Hold Sequences – very useful fro abdominal and MRCP imaging
- Multi Acquisition – up to four channel design
- Digital Design – digital Spectrometer makes more accurate and reliable
- Connects – MDT is a DICOM 3 system makes communication with HIS/RIS
- Artifact Removal – newer technique like metal artifact removal, respiratory artifact removal
- More Feasible – ELIXBO 545 MRI makes QD as well as parallel imaging feasible in a permanent magnet system enabling fast dynamic imaging
- More functions – high field clinical applications available including EPI and cardiac imaging, Fat water imaging, DWI, ADC mapping
- Diagnosis feature – supports real-time imaging for MRI-guided therapy
- Latest developments – MDT is one of the first to introduce high temperature superconducting (HTS) to design highly efficient RF and gradient coils.
Best Technology MRI backed by Sanrad
“We have carefully examined what a highly qualified Indian Radiologist looking in an MRI and MDT matches their expectations. We have spent more than two years evaluating this product before entering an exclusive agreement with MDT,” says Ratish Nair, CEO, Sanrad Medical Systems.
“We want to be number one in our product segment and we have learned from our competitor’s success as well as failures and designed our business and product strategy. We have hired some of the best talents with long experience in Open MRI recently to do serious business in India and neighbouring countries,” says Nair.
“We are a customer first company and the focus is not just on the product but on customer and what they need from our product and company,” says Nair.
In short, MDT is the perfect answer to high field open MRI.
Units installed in India
Sanrad Medical Systems installed their first 0.45T unit , mstar 4500 system in India at Megavision, Pune ,seven years ago. After seeing the demo images and going through the data sheets, customers were convinced of MDT’s superior design and quality and decided to go in favour of a permanent MRI model mastar 4500.
Megavision is one of the premier imaging centre which caters the needs of a large number of patients and highly qualified consultants in and around Pune.
With the newly launched model of ELIXBO, Sanrad is poised to become the only serious player in Permanent OPEN MRI market in India hoping to make MRI affordable for common man and thus ideal choice for public health system in India.
Contact Details:
Som Panicker
Mob: 09920246688
Email: sompanicker@yahoo.com
Website: www.sanrad.in