Montefiore Advanced Imaging at the Greene Medical Arts Pavilion recently installed sophisticated new technology, called the Philips Panorama 1.0T, that makes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) available to more patients.
The center is the first facility in the city and one of the first centers in the tri-state area to offer the next generation of open-bay MRI scanning that for the first time provides the same high-quality tests available with closed scanners.
OLDER SCANS HAD TOO MANY RESTRICTIONS
During traditional MRI studies, patients lie in a long, narrow tube that uses large magnets to create unparalleled views of the brain, spine, shoulder, joints, muscles and internal organs. These scanners can also be used to show how certain organs function.
MRI is the test of choice for many physicians, but not everyone has been able to take advantage of these sophisticated tests. Some patients feel uncomfortable in the confined spaces of closed MRI scanners. Others, including some patients preparing for bariatric weight-loss surgery, don’t fit comfortably in the closed scanners.
“Early open scanners made a difference for some claustrophobic or large patients,” says Michael Lipton, MD, medical director of MRI Services at Montefiore Medical Center and director of Radiology Research and associate professor of Clinical Radiology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “But since they employed much weaker magnets, the images they produced weren’t as clear as those of traditional scanners, and we couldn’t use them to perform advanced functional testing.”
NEW MRI OFFERS MANY BENEFITS
Now all patients can get high-quality MRI scans with the new Philips system at Montefiore Advanced Imaging at the Greene Medical Arts Pavilion. Instead of sliding into a narrow tube, patients lie between two large discs located a few feet apart.
The scanner is completely open on the sides, in front and in back. Scans take about the same amount of time, but the new system offers alternatives to the closed MRI for these patients:
- those who are significantly overweight
- children
- those who are claustrophopic
- those with certain handicaps
“The new scanner is very patient-friendly,”
Dr. Lipton says. “Patients can
see outside the scanner so they don’t
feel as confined or uncomfortable.
Since the scanner uses magnets that
are about the same strength as closed
MRI, we no longer have to compromise
image quality for patients who are more
comfortable in an open MRI scanner.
With this new scanner, we can provide
a full spectrum of MRI anatomic and
function scans to all patients.” 
Dr. Lipton is the medical director of MRI Services at
Montefiore Medical Center. For more information, please
call 1-866-MMC-XRAY or visit: www.montefiore.org/radiology.
If you need an MRI, ask your doctor
for a referral to Montefiore Advanced
Imaging and call 
The articles in this publication are from Montefiore Medical Center’s publication Keeping You Healthy and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations to any individual or group.
This publication is for information purposes only.