Paul Strickland Scanner Centre, an independent medical charity based at Mount Vernon Hospital, has recently upgraded its MR system to the UK’s-first MAGNETOM Prismafit.
The upgrade, provided by Siemens Healthcare, is part of wider improvements taking place at the centre to increase throughput and reduce patient waiting times. The charity will use the high-specification system for the assessment of next-generation anti-cancer treatments designed to improve life expectancy and quality. As part of these ongoing enhancements, a MAGNETOM Avantofit upgrade is also currently underway.
“The upgraded system is imaging between 12 and 15 patients per day. Although we are using the Prismafit for all sorts of procedures such as oncological, brain and spinal imaging, the technology has been particularly valuable in our prostate cancer work,” said Professor Anwar Padhani, consultant radiologist and professor of cancer imaging at the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre.
“Recent guidelines implemented by NICE, London Cancer Alliance, and BUPA for suspected prostate cancer now recommend MR scans should take place before invasive biopsy and call for active surveillance instead of more invasive treatments for non-aggressive disease.”
The Prismafit upgrade offers a unique 3T MRI platform to help tackle the most-demanding MRI research challenges of today and the future. The system is equipped with the XR 80/200 gradient system, the strongest gradients in the industry. The combination of the excellent gradients together with Total imaging matrix (Tim 4G) and Day optimising throughput (DOT) enables the most-demanding applications. In addition, DOT provides increased consistency and better reproducibility for research studies and multi-center trials.
Claire Strickland, chief executive at the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre said: “The new MAGNETOM Prismafit upgrade from Siemens Healthcare has had a positive impact at the centre. As more than 40,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK every year, the installation of the Prismafit will allow for a faster diagnosis and a greatly enhanced patient experience.”
Andreas Hadjiphanis, regional sales manager at Siemens Healthcare, added: “As Paul Strickland Scanner Centre continues to improve levels of patient care, it requires technology that can stay ahead of the times and continue to increase throughput. In addition to the Prismafit, an Avantofit upgrade is also currently underway, underlining the centre’s desire to ensure the same high-quality of software and hardware is available for clinicians to best serve the patient.”
