Siemens unveils new 3-Tesla MRI system

25 January 2012

Siemens Healthcare presented the Magnetom Prisma MRI system at the 98th Congress of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2012 last November, with planned European availability in the second half of 2013. The 3-Tesla Magnetom Prisma will offer a new level of MRI imaging, combining high gradient strength and fast gradient slew rates.

Based on the same technology platform as the 3-Tesla Magnetom Skyra, the Prisma is capable of high spatial and temporal resolution to achieve excellent image quality, especially with demanding advanced research applications. In order to also provide existing customers with enhancements, Siemens will offer an upgrade path for the 3-Tesla system Magnetom Trio to the Prisma’s latest technology. This is another innovation under the Agenda 2013 initiative from Siemens Healthcare.

It has advanced gradient performance combining 80mT/m and a slew rate of 200T/m/s simultaneously. The system’s combination of high gradient strength and fast gradient switching speed allows for increased image quality in areas such as diffusion imaging, capturing minor diffusion effects with high gradient strength. To make full use of this potential, the new Diffusion Spectrum Imaging (DSI) application makes it possible to resolve fine anatomical details of the brain, such as crossing white-matter fibres by using up to 514 diffusion encoding directions.

In addition to revealing new insights into brain function, the scanner  has great potential in the research fields of body physiology, organ morphometry, tissue metabolism and quantitative MRI. The system’s excellent image quality is derived from not only the gradient strength, but also advanced shimming solutions that allow for fine and effective compensation of patient-induced field disturbances.

The Prisma is based on a single technological platform with the 3-Tesla system the Magnetom Skyra. The Prisma is designed primarily for clinical research, for instance in neurology, while the Skyra is for advanced clinical imaging. Both systems are equipped with TimTX TrueShape parallel transmit technology and syngo ZOOMit, providing better image quality and shorter examination times.

The MAGNETOM Prisma is equipped with Tim 4G, the fourth generation of Siemens’ integrated coil technology. With a new head-neck coil with 64 receive channels for this system as well as for the MAGNETOM Skyra, users can combine up to 84 receive channels in a single scan when combining it with the standard body and spine coils – the highest number of receive channels currently available on the market. Supported by 64 or 128 receive channels, image quality can be substantially increased while reducing scan time.

The MAGNETOM Prisma can perform challenging research examinations at a consistently high level. Besides zero helium boil-off technology, users benefit from Dot (day optimising throughput) technology, which makes it possible to select the most appropriate scanning strategy, depending on the indication. Dot increases scan consistency and reproducibility. Predefined Dot workflows facilitate the repetition of measurements for a given patient at different time points or the ability to compare examinations obtained at different sites, such as during the course of multi-site research projects.

“We are proud to introduce our latest 3-Tesla MRI system at RSNA 2012,” states Jane Kilkenny, MRI Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare. “The MAGNETOM Prisma features excellent image quality and further benefits from the inclusion of a number of technologies such as TimTX TrueShape and syngo ZOOMit for detailed incite of specific parts of the body. We look forward to releasing it to the European healthcare market.”

 

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