ANN ARBOR, MI - Imagine being able to watch blood and electrical impulses flow through the brain, and even getting a glimpse into how the human thought processes actually work – all without making a single incision.

Two new powerful Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, systems will make that possible at the University of Michigan Health System, along with expanded capabilities to image diseases in patients – from neurological disorders to cardiovascular disease.

The 3 Tesla MRI system is twice as powerful and faster than the standard MRI machines typically used for patient care imaging, allowing UMHS to further enhance its capabilities to perform metabolic and physiologic imaging for clinical care and research.

The first of the pair, the Philips Achieva 3T Quasar Dual, will be installed and operational for patient use by fall 2004. The UMHS will be the first in North America to use the $1 million Achieva 3T MRI, and will serve as a demonstration site for Philips.

The second system, provided by Philips for research purposes at UMHS, will keep UMHS at the forefront of leading-edge research by incorporating the newest technological advances and high field strength.

Today, the U-M Board of Regents approved a renovation project allowing UMHS to proceed with the installation of the 3T MRI research system at University Hospital. The renovation project will involve 1,780 gross square feet of space in the UH basement level, near the clinical 3T MRI, and include the architectural, mechanical and electrical work necessary for installment of the MRI research system.

The architectural firm Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative will design the $881,000 project. The renovation is scheduled to be complete by winter 2005.

Each year, UMHS performs approximately 24,000 MRI exams. Nearly 13,000 of those are for neurological cases alone. Currently, the U-M Department of Radiology provides MRI services to patients via three 1.5T clinical scanners – two at UH and one at the U-M East Ann Arbor Health Center, all of which will remain operational.

The new clinical 3T MRI system, however, will provide patients with access to a faster, quieter and more detailed imaging process, and further expand research within the Department of Radiology, says Suresh K. Mukherji, M.D., Chief of Neuroradiology and Head & Neck Radiology at the U-M Health System.

“The 3T MRI takes magnetic imaging to the next level by allowing us to see not only anatomy within the body, but also the metabolic function of those structures,” says Mukherji, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Radiology at the U-M Medical School. “With brain tumors, for example, the 3T gives us the ability to see earlier how the tumor is actually responding to treatment – not just if it is shrinking.”

In the clinical setting, the 3T MRI will primarily diagnose and image neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and stroke. However, the powerful magnet will also be used to scan the entire body for otolaryngology, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, orthopaedic and select pediatric cases.

The pair of 3T MRI systems will add to the array of brain and head and neck imaging and intervention techniques already available to UMHS patients. In May, the Department of Radiology will open a new state-of-the-art neuroangiography suite in UH, further increasing UMHS's capability to perform minimally invasive procedures. Those procedures include the embolization of aneurysms , arteriovenous malformations and vascular tumors, performed by the interventional neuroradiology division.

In addition, through the use of functional MRI, or fMRI, neurosurgeons are able to “map” the brain before surgery to determine the areas of the brain involved in speech and movement, for example, in relation to the patient's tumor.

The fMRI technique has also been used to study pain signals and pathways in the brain at U-M, and correlate subjective pain sensation with objective views of brain signals in patients suffering from fibromyalgia and back pain. But the 3T MRI system will take fMRI a step further by enhancing UMHS's ability to see brain function thanks to the more powerful magnet, says Mukherji.

“The 3T MRI will offer us a more advanced system than fMRI, and further expand upon our current research capabilities,” he says. “We'll be able to test new sequences and techniques for magnetic imaging, putting U-M at the cutting edge of this technology.”

A research Certificate of Need is required for the renovation project going before the Regents today. The U-M Hospitals and Health Centers' resources will fund the project.

Contact: Krista Hopson

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