Philips open 1T goes commercial

Images obtained using the new Panorama 1T open MR scanner equal or surpass the quality of cylindrical 1.5T systems, according to developer Philips Medical Systems. The first of this breed of scanner began operating in mid-October at a Las Vegas outpatient clinic owned by Nevada Imaging Centers. It is not the first open 1T to enter clinical service; Siemens Medical Solutions has installed three 1T Rhapsody systems at clinical sites. The Panorama 1T, however, is the only truly high-field open MR designed for mass production. Routine deliveries of the system, which was shown at this year's RSNA meeting, are scheduled to begin in 2005.

The scanner is designed to produce images as good and as fast as those acquired at 1.5T, while offering the patient the benefits of an open design. The actively shielded vertical-field superconducting magnet operates on the same platform as the company's cylindrical Achieva, but it relies on specially designed coils that are more efficient than those for the traditional horizontal cylindrical field systems, according to the company. A wheeled patient table that docks with the scanner boosts throughput: A site purchasing two such tables can use one to prepare a patient while the other is docked to the scanner. (Provided by Philips Medical Solutions)