In an attempt to continually better ourselves and our services, Cincinnati Children’s is constantly pushing to change the outcome. In our MRI department this means updating our intraoperative MRI scanner, located within one of our operating rooms. As of January 2017, the outdated 1.5T Siemens scanner was removed by a crane through a hole in the wall and was replaced by a brand new 1.5T Philips scanner (identical to the machines located in MRI room 2 and in A6).
The opening for this new scanner was delayed a bit from the original start date in November. Because of its location in the operating room, there were a few unusual obstacles we needed to address before moving forward with the installation process. First, there is a specialized door that creates a sterile barrier between the operating room (where the actual surgery takes place) and the MRI scan room (where imaging takes place). The door had to be customized and specifically constructed to fit the room’s strange measurements and shield against the magnetic field.
The second issue needing attention was dealing with all the special procedures associated with scanning and doing surgery at the same time. There were certain space requirements, room setup details, and new equipment training that needed to be addressed before anything could have clinical use. Because our previous MRI machine was from Siemens and our new MRI camera is from Philips, this causes a change in everything from basic MRI vocabulary to quirky troubleshooting. Although these hurtles hindered us slightly, we are happy to say the intraoperative scanner is now back up and ready for action.
It will be exciting to finally check out our different capabilities and enhanced procedures available with this upgrade. It’s all a part of Cincinnati Children’s never-ending effort to bring you the best care possible!
