Member Article

Nuffield Health Lifts Ground Breaking MRI Scanner

A state-of-the-art £1million MRI scanner has been lifted into the Nuffield Health Manchester Diagnostic Suite, at Citylabs on Oxford Road.

The MRI, designed and supplied by Philips Healthcare, is an Ingenia 1.5 Tesla high specification scanner, which includes specialist software to enable Nuffield Health to carry out cardiac studies as well as general imaging. Developed for a diverse range of patients of different ages, sizes and physical conditions, it comes with a 70cm-wide bore, which helps to alleviate anxiety and the symptoms of claustrophobia.

The Diagnostic Suite has been developed by Nuffield Health, further to consultation about which additional diagnostic facilities would best support the Manchester community, improve health outcomes and cut waiting times. The Suite will be officially opened on 21st January and the MRI will join a suite of top quality diagnostic technologies.

The Diagnostic Suite is situated on Oxford Road and will provide easy access to a bespoke healthcare environment in a sympathetically restored listed building.

The MRI scanner features Philip’s Ambient Experience technology which is designed to reduce patient anxiety through an immersive, multi-sensorial experience. With dynamic lighting and sound, ambient experience allows patients to personalise their environment and surroundings in a relaxing atmosphere, through all stages of their examination.

The concept has been further enhanced by Philips with the in-bore solution, a feature which helps patients relax and remain still during the MRI examination. Head-first patients get an immersive viewing experience when they are moving into the scanner (the patient’s highest anxiety moment), and during the exam. Engaging visuals are displayed on the back wall and can be seen via a mirror on the head coil, while patients can listen to music or sound scape through headphones.

Barbara Baker, Manchester Market Director at Nuffield Health, said: “The MRI swing-in is a pivotal step in the delivery of our Diagnostic Suite. We will be offering a significant amount of MRI and CT capacity within state-of-the-art health and wellbeing facilities, as part of our wider strategy to materially improve the health outcomes of those within Manchester and its surrounding.”

MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of inside the body. Unlike X-rays, MRI scans do not involve the exposure of radiation to the body. In addition to the scanner, Philips is supplying its IntelliSpace Portal workstation that allows images to be viewed and analysed remotely.

Further to this development, Nuffield Health submitted a planning application last week for a £75m hospital and wellbeing centre to be built on the nearby Elizabeth Gaskell site, on Hathersage Road.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nuffield Health Manchester .