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Following months of construction, the newly renovated CHEO MRI suite is up and running, offering new décor, enhanced space to improve the patient experience and eventually shorten wait times.
The new suite is also home to a new GE SIGNA Artist Evo MRI magnet, which offers more accurate and timely diagnosis, leveraging innovative new AI Deep learning technology scanning through the new higher resolution images.
“This new MRI will save time and offers more details than ever before. "This is a true game-changer,” said Kara Rochette, MRI Supervisor at CHEO.
MRI technologists can now complete most scans much more quickly, which will improve the experience for children anxious about an MRI and also enable the team to see more children.
Funded by the generosity of donors, the new magnet will also save time for more complex cases where a head scan is needed. A new type of four-minute scan can create six different images, which would previously require six different scans that would each last between two and five minutes.
For the past year and a half, the MRI team has worked hard to implement innovative strategies to cut the wait list in half — from 18 to nine months — for kids who need general anesthesia (GA) to have an MRI.
“With this new technology, we aspire to continue to reduce wait times and provide better access to care for our patients,” said Rochette.
The MRI also has what’s called a “zero TE” type of imaging that looks very similar to images from CT scans. This means CHEO can replace some CT scans with MRIs to reduce radiation for patients.
For young patients who might feel a sense of claustrophobia inside an MRI, a common issue with children, the opening of the new machine is larger than the previous one. In addition, the MR Success Clinic, a new initiative within CHEO’s MRI team, has helped anxious kids prepare for an MRI using virtual reality (VR) goggles. The new room will allow patients to further customize their VR experience.
“Once they design our MRI suite, then they can take that design and implement it into the VR so it's a real replica of what they're going to go through. That will be great for the kids,” said Rochette.
The new MRI suite is part of an overall transformation and upgrade on the CHEO campus, with generous funding for this capital project being provided by support from community donors.