U.S. MRI Diagnostic Sports Imaging Acquires New Specialty

U.S. MRI Diagnostic Sports Imaging in South Jordan has added a new GE Optima MR430s to its medical facility at 10696 South River Front Parkway. U.S. MRI is now the first and only medical facility in Utah to have this specialty scanner.

According to U.S. MRI CEO Radd Berrett, the GE Optima MR430s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system was specifically designed to be used on extremities such as arms or legs. “GE’s new state-of-the-art system is much smaller, about the size of an ATM, and requires about one-fifth the space of a traditional full-body MRI system. Patients actually sit or recline in a padded leather chair next to the scanner. Only the targeted body part goes into the system. As a result, patients are generally more comfortable than they would be in a full-body MRI, virtually eliminating claustrophobic conditions,” said Barrett.

Berrett added that the new system is much faster, quieter and provides the highest quality digital images currently available in the marketplace. He noted that the GE Optima system uses a 1.5 Tesla magnet. (Tesla, also abbreviated as T, measures the strength of a magnetic field—1.5T magnets are generally considered the clinical standard for the industry. Early MRI scanners that appeared in the 1970s operated at strengths of 0.6T.) “Because of its anatomy-specific design, the system is able to pinpoint with great clarity the affected regions of the body, producing crystal-clear images aiding physician diagnosis,” he said.

In addition to its recently acquired GE Optima MR430s system, U.S. MRI also has the larger, traditional GE Horizon MRI machine. This unit is primarily used for MRIs of the shoulder, hip, spine and brain, but also used to conduct Functional MRIs (fMRIs) in diagnosing concussions, measure post traumatic real time brain activity and create treatment protocols following such injuries.

Berrett said, “As the medical industry is undergoing so many changes, facilities like U.S. MRI are strongly positioned to serve consumer needs. At our office, MRIs cost about 75 percent less than a typical hospital scan. With big hospitals comes big overhead, and patients often end up paying much more than expected. We make sure that our patients are never charged extra for facility, doctor, technician or interest costs. This ultimately saves patients money, especially since so many insurance plans now have high deductibles.”

For more information, visit www.us-mri.com