An organization called the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS) has been formed with a mission to certify—through formally administered tests—individuals who have been delegated the responsibility of ensuring the safety of clinical and research magnetic resonance environments.

Serving the community of upstate New York’s Capital Region, Adirondack Radiology Associates (ARA) recently expanded patients’ access to state-of-the-art, high-field open bore MR imaging technology, replacing two systems, an older low-field open system and a closed 1.5T system, with the Hitachi Oasis high-field open MR at their Saratoga Imaging Center. Since the installation, ARA has experienced an increase in procedure volumes and patient satisfaction as well a reduction in costs. 

While MRI is often considered one of the safer imaging modalities due to its lack of ionizing radiation, other dangers remain for patients, with thermal burns being a chief concern. 

Waukesha, WI — August 4, 2014 — Today GE Healthcare announced that the first integrated, simultaneous, time-of-flight (TOF) capable, whole body SIGNA PET/MR* is 510(k) pending at the FDA. Powered by simultaneous image acquisition from GE’s latest 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance (MR) technology and innovative positron emission tomography (PET) technology, the SIGNA PET/MR represents a new chapter in helping clinicians achieve improved scan efficiency that may lead to more effective treatment paths for clinicians to offer their patients, particularly for oncology, neurology, and cardiology.

A radiology benefits management (RBM) company reduced the average cost of an MRI by 9 percent in markets where patients received phone calls directing them to lower-cost facilities, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Sacramento leads the country in pricing for an MRI of the lower back (average $2,365), and just a short jaunt up the West Coast, Seattle offers the nation’s lowest average cost for a back scan at $907, according to a new analysis of in-network price differences for four common medical procedures.

G.E. Healthcare, Buckinghamshire, U.K., announced a partnership with West Sussex, U.K.-based Tesla Engineering Ltd. on the development of a new 7T whole-body MRI scanner.

Among the many requirements a hospital must meet to achieve and maintain the designation of Critical Access Hospital (CAH), the hospital must be fairly remote and furnish 24-hour emergency care services seven days a week, using either on-site or on-call staff.