Philips previews high-field scanner

Philips Medical System’s latest contribution to brain scanning is its high-field MR system, the 3 tesla Gyroscan Intera. The system is under development with the University of Zurich in Switzerland, but Philips previewed the system and some of its features at this month’s Organization for Human Brain Mapping meeting in San Antonio.

The improved signal-to-noise ratio of a stronger field scanner will assist brain mapping efforts through enhanced standard imaging, MR spectroscopy, diffusion, perfusion, and functional MR techniques, according to clinicians involved with the scanner. The 3-tesla system is a part of Philip’s Intera product line.

Along with the scanner, Philips highlighted SENSE, an ultra-fast imaging technique also being developed with the University of Zurich.

By doubling the scanning speed, SENSE will improve a wide range of MR studies, according to the firm.

Philips is also working on a method called DTI, or diffusion tensor imaging. DTI detects how white matter fiber tracts connect different parts of the brain.