MR Knee Coil Receives FDA Clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for use Toshiba America Medical Systems’ extra-large knee array coil for the Vantage TitanTM MR system. Toshiba claims to be the first diagnostic imaging vendor to offer an extra-large knee coil with a 22-cm interior diameter for MR imaging. Stuart Clarkson, director of Toshiba’s MR business unit, says the wide diameter of the coil allows the system to accommodate most bariatric patients without compromising image quality. The coil also has features that render it helpful when imaging non-bariatric patients; for instance, its wide diameter facilitates the imaging of a flexed or bent knee when patients cannot straighten their leg due to injury or a medical condition. As a result, Clarkson states, health care providers can utilize one knee coil for a range of procedures. Other features encompass a six-channel array coil design and a removable upper coil attachment to ease patient positioning. Nationally, the supply-demand rate for all occupations was 3.05, or three unemployed for every advertised opening.