Advances in Technology for UK St. Claire

Machinery and equipment are always changing and evolving as technology continues to advance. UK St. Claire (SCH) has been working to install a new MRI scanner, MAGNETOM Aera, for use at St. Claire Regional Medical Center.

The MAGNETOM Aera will deliver superb image quality, ensuring efficiency and reliability for our patients and staff. The new scanner will optimize MRI processes and reduce staff workload, regardless of patient conditions or situations. With 4G accuracy and speed, exam times will be dramatically shortened by up to 40%.

“Technological innovations play a huge role in the way we offer care at St. Claire,” said Theresa Hollan RT, RDMS, RVT, SCH Asst. Director of Diagnostic Imaging. “The image quality our new machine can offer will help our team to work efficiently to give our patients the most reliable, accurate results, despite the level of complexity a case may pose.”

The MAGNETOM Aera will also improve patient comfort during their exam. With a shorter magnet area, patients will now be able to complete scans without being fully submerged in the machine. The open bore of the machine accommodates patients of any size comfortably. The noise level is also reduced by nearly 70% compared to other MRI scanners.

The new machine is scheduled to be ready for use at St. Claire Regional Medical Center by the end of April.

“Bringing in this new machine has been a long process with obstacles along the way, but we are confident the change will be well worth the efforts,” said Hollan.

The entire project of removing the previous machine and bringing in the new will be an 11-week process. SCH continues to offer MRI and PET scans via mobile services.