Jessica Brown
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Boston (WCVB) — MRI is an important tool to help doctors diagnose health problems. However, for many patients, it can also be a nervous and uncomfortable experience.
Amy Page said, “If I get an MRI, you’re going to have to put me down because of what happened last time.” Got her first scan.
“The music stopped halfway through…and I was just sweating,” she recalled.
Amy got over it, but she was a little nervous when she recently had to undergo another MRI. Then the team at Tufts Medical Center said there was something new she wanted to try.
“I quickly realized they weren’t the same,” she said. “She said, ‘We can put you feet first, we can put you head first. There’s music. They project things onto the ceiling.’ .”
Amy was one of the first patients to try the new Philips MRI machine at Tufts Medical Center. It boasts more space, better music, and customized lighting and video, all designed to make patients feel more at ease. But doctors say that’s only part of the picture.
“It has the potential not only to save lives, but to transform the way we treat, plan and treat,” explains Dr. Christopher Filippi, Tufts’ Chief of Radiology.
Dr. Filippi says the level of imaging this new machine can provide is a game changer.
“It’s head to toe. We use MRIs to image every part of the body: the heart, the liver, the pelvis, the prostate, the bones, the brain. And that’s really important,” he said. “With so many advanced imaging technologies in this machine, we can now just make a diagnosis and use the metrics derived from these scans to inform treatment, planning and prognosis. .”
Newer machines are also faster. A lumbar MRI that used to take 30 minutes now takes less than 10 minutes for him.
Dr. Filippi tried the machine himself and admits it was a completely new experience.
“I fell asleep,” he recalled. “I mean, I was watching a Panda video, but I didn’t want the scan to end because I hadn’t finished watching it.”
As for Amy Page, her fear of having an MRI is now a memory.
“I understand what it’s like to have that fear, and then you have to decide between medical and mental health,” she said. I’m glad you kept that in mind.”
The purchase of the new MRI is made possible by a joint venture between Tufts and Shields Health.
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