New open MRI installed at Imaging Institute
When Valerie Villalobos’ doctor told her she’d need to have another MRI and likely surgery on her injured knee, she was apprehensive – but not about the operation.
“Most people would be having anxiety about the possibility of surgery, but mine was about getting back into an MRI unit,” she said.
Villalobos is extremely claustrophobic, and even the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines that are open on the sides don’t relieve her fear and nervousness. “I know it’s open on the side, but it doesn’t help my anxiety staring right up at the machine,” she said. She’d experienced it once before. “It’s just so close to your face, it was going to touch my nose.”
So Villalobos suffered with knee pain, waiting for what she said would be a better imaging option for her. In August, California Imaging Institute became the first in the Valley to have an open 1.5 Tesla field strength MRI – with a 70-centimeter wide opening, a platform that accommodates a 450-pound patient and a stronger magnet to provide clearer pictures in quicker times.
For Villalobos, the bigger opening and shorter tube makes it roomy enough that she doesn’t need medication to calm her claustrophobia during the imaging.
“This was a totally different experience from what I had with other MRIs,” she said after her exam at California Imaging Institute. Her head was sticking out and she was in and out in no time, she said. If they do have to get images of upper extremities, most patients have about a foot of space between their nose and the inside of the tube in this roomier MRI.
Imaging Institute’s MRI tech Scott Gould said Villalobos’ doctor should be pleased with the images produced. “Weaker magnets don’t get as high a resolution,” he explained. “Most doctors don’t like the quality on the .3 or the .5 open magnet MRI. This is the strongest magnet on an open bore.”
An MRI uses radio waves and a strong magnetic field to bounce off soft tissues inside the body and provide clear computer images of internal organs, muscles and ligaments. It’s often used to examine the body’s joints and spine.
This story was reported by Erin Kennedy. She can be reached at ekennedy@communitymedical.org.