BWWMH adds new MRI machine

With the addition of the Optima MR450w MRI machine, the Diagnostic Imaging Department at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in Demopolis has added a room with a view.

“Our new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine is designed to help maximize comfort for our patients while delivering uncompromised image quality,” said Mike Marshall, CEO.

The unit, delivered in February, should be fully operational by April, according to Marshall. “In order to install the new machine, we had to first knock out the wall to remove the old machine and then do extensive renovation to the room in order to make it compatible with this more modern MRI,” he said. “We hope to complete construction in the next few weeks so that the unit can be fully operational in April.”

Features of the state-of-the-art machine include: a 70 cm (approximately 7’) wide bore and a 50 cm field of view to make scans accessible to more patients who need them; strong whole-body gradients that yield scans that are fast, accurate and highly reproducible; and advanced functionality to give physicians the tools to help make definitive diagnoses.

“An added bonus to patient comfort with this machine is that it is very quiet,” Marshall explained. “The Silent Scan technology developed by GE makes the MR as silent as a whisper, thus helping to reduce the added anxiety of loud noise for our patients.

“The new MRI also allows us to add MRAs and kidney studies to our capabilities,” he said. Similar to an MRI, an MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) is a test that allows the doctor to view inside the body, and more specifically, to view the condition of blood vessels in those patients who have suffered a blood clot, stroke, heart disease or similar health problem.

The addition of the new MRI machine is the finishing touch on for the Diagnostic Imaging Department at BWWMH.

“Over the last five years we’ve updated our department to include a GE NM360 nuclear medicine scanner, an Aquilion 64 CFX 64-slice CT scanner, a Selenia digital mammography unit, and the Discovery bone densitometry unit,” said Marshall. “Our Diagnostic Imaging Department is one of the most up-to-date in West Alabama and we draw patients from throughout the Black Belt.”

Plans for an open house to introduce the public to the newly revamped Diagnostic Imaging Department are being made for later this spring.