GE Healthcare has introduced a new data acquisition technology designed to improve patient comfort by largely eliminating the horrible noise generated during an MRI scan. Conventional MRI scanners can generate noise levels in excess of 110 dBA (creating a din that sounds like a cross between a vehicle's reverse warning horn and a Star Trek phaser) but GE says its new Silent Scan MRI technology can reduce this to just above background noise levels in the exam room.
The noise that MRI scanners produce is related to changes in the magnetic field that allow the slice by slice body scan to be carried out. In recent years, industry efforts to speed up the scanning process have also resulted in louder and louder scans. The designers have attempted to dampen these noises with mufflers and baffles, achieving only limited success.
Silent Scan is achieved through two new developments. First, acoustic noise is essentially eliminated by using a new 3D scanning and reconstruction technique called Silenz. When the Silenz protocol is used in combination with GE's new high-fidelity MRI gradient and RF system electronics, the MRI scanning noise is largely eliminated at its source.
At the 2012 meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, an MRI system compatible with the Silent Scan technology was linked into a soundproof room. When the MRI system used conventional scanning methods, a staccato, stuttering racket with noise peaks up to 110 dBA was heard. However, when Silent Scan was switched on, the noise level dropped to 76 dBA, just above the background noise of the MRI electronics. This is accomplished without substantial trade-offs in scanning time or image quality, according to Richard Hausmann, president and CEO, GE Healthcare MR. The comparison is shown in this video.
Silent Scan technology has not yet obtained 510k Premarketing Notification clearance from the FDA, so it's not yet available for sale. GE is presumably hoping for a decision that Silent Scan is "substantially equivalent" to existing MRI scanners, a result that would greatly simplify the new technology's entry into the diagnostic market.
Source: GE Healthcare
Seriously, why do many doctors just assign CT scans and never even mention MRI when it's just BETTER for rendering flesh? They often don't even offer the patient a choice!
There are more and more "zero boil off" magnets, thus decreasing the helium usage. Also keep in mind, a routine brain only a few years ago took 30 to 45 mins of scan time... Now it's down to 9 to 12 mins. MRI and its potential is limitless. It's important to keep in mind with the new dose tracking guidelines for CT, MRI is the safer alternative. A CT of the chest is like getting 300 chest X-rays, a lot of radiation. Most metal implant are compatible at 1.5T (but should still be researched for safety), and there are MR comparable pace makers now... It's the future of imaging. (There's been a helium shortage for the past 10 years, but in those years, more and more MR exams have been done).