2/21/2005
For Immediate Release
Altaire Delivers Advanced Breast Imaging Solutions
CONTACT:
info@hitachimed.com
http://www.hitachimed.com
HMSA is delivering the most advanced dedicated breast coil available for an Open MR system through its Scalable Dual Quad Breast Coil for the Altaire. In response to the increasing acceptance of MRI of the breast as a valuable contribution to women’s health assessment, Hitachi’s breast imaging solution combines the new SDQ breast coil and Altaire’s advanced high-field technologies. Together, they provide clinical capabilities that rival traditional high-field imagers with the patient-oriented architecture of Open MRI.
“We are visualizing lesions with Altaire and its SDQ Breast Coil that were previously undetectable or inconclusive in other modalities,” reports Dr. Roger Pellman, radiologist at The Center for Medical Imaging in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “In the past six weeks we have imaged six lesions in patients that had a normal mammogram; at this point three of those have now been proven malignant.” Pellman notes that x-ray mammography may miss nearly 30% of lesions, while MRI has been demonstrated to have a negative predictive value of almost 100%.
With the industry’s largest opening, Altaire lends itself to patient comfort for breast imaging, while the 0.7T field strength and active shim technology provide the consistently high-quality imaging required for comprehensive breast studies. Altaire's open design and patient accessibility also lends itself to the unique opportunity to perform biopsies and needle localizations with the patient at isocenter. The four-channel Scalable Dual Quad Breast Coil delivers consistent uniformity and optimal coverage for unilateral and bilateral imaging of the breast, while its comfortable, adjustable, anatomically specific design reduces patient stress.
For more information about the advanced breast imaging capabilities of the Altaire High-Performance Open MR system or HMSA’s range of anatomically-specific coils, contact your local Hitachi representative or log onto www.hitachimed.com.
