Claustrophobic and bariatric patients in Surrey and West Sussex will, the unit’s supplier says, be the UK’s first to benefit from “the widest whole body MRI scanner available”, improving their experience and diagnosis, and reducing waiting times.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is installing GE’s first wide-bore MRI scanner in the UK, with a 70 cm diameter, 10 cm wider than a regular scanner, at Redhill’s East Surrey Hospital, as part of a £1.7 million investment which also includes the purchase of an ONI Extremity MRI Scanner from the same supplier (for scans of smaller areas like knees and wrists). The 1.5 Tesla wide-bore ONI MSK Extreme MRI scanner will be used to scan cancer, neuro, vascular, cardiac, urology, joint, and back conditions. Over a three-month period, the hospital’s existing MRI room will be renovated and the new system installed, with the project requiring building of a copper “Faraday cage”, setting a special safety door, and using a 50 m high crane to bring the 6.4 tonnes of equipment into the hospital.
