6/1/2001
For Immediate Release
HITACHI INSTALLS THEIR FIRST HIGH-FIELD PERFORMANCE OPEN MR SYSTEM
CONTACT:
Jeffry Glenning
Administrative Director
Mission Regional Imaging Center
26161 Marguerite Parkway, Suite D
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
949.348.1105 Ext. 104
949.348.2588 Fax
Sheldon Schaffer
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc.
1959 Summit Commerce Park
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
800.800.3106
330.425.1313 Ext. 5447
330.425.1410 FAX
info@hitachimed.com
www.hitachimed.com
Twinsburg, Ohio – June 1, 2001 – Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. (HMSA) announces the installation of their first AltaireTM high-field performance Open MR imaging system at Mission Regional Imaging Center (MRIC) in Mission Viejo, California.
MRIC provides MRI services for Mission Hospital Medical Center, a regional trauma center and a center for pediatric care that needs to provide high quality imaging with short imaging times to a broad range of patients. "We were originally planning to upgrade our 1.5T high-field capabilities. We instead purchased the Hitachi Altaire system. It not only met all of our needs for high-resolution image quality and advanced clinical capabilities but did so in an open environment", comments Anthony Stauffer, M.D., Director of MRI and CT at Mission Regional Imaging Center.
Altaire has a powerful gradient system that delivers 22mT/m gradient amplitude and 55T/m/s slew rate, enabling Altaire to perform advanced clinical imaging techniques such as Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI)-based Diffusion-Weighted Imaging; MR Angiography including contrast enhanced MRA (CE-MRA); ultra fast-scanning techniques such as single-shot and multi-shot EPI; and RF fat saturation.
"Altaire answers the market’s need for an Open MR imaging system that delivers high-field image quality and high patient throughput," stated Sheldon Schaffer, Vice President and General Manager of Magnetic Resonance at HMSA.
Mission Hospital, a member of the St. Joseph healthcare family, is the largest medical center in south Orange County and the area's designated trauma center. Mission Hospital offers a broad range of services, allowing them to treat more complex medical conditions in a variety of specialties, including comprehensive heart, cancer, maternity, rehabilitation, orthopaedics, vascular and stroke care.
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. markets premium, high performance magnetic resonance imaging products of Hitachi Medical Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. These include the AIRIS®II Open MR system with advanced permanent magnet technology and the new Altaire high-field performance Open MR system. HMSA has established itself as a major provider of magnetic resonance imaging systems with almost 1,000 systems installed throughout the United States and over 2,300 worldwide. Since the company first popularized the concept of Open MR over a decade ago, it has been the fastest growing segment of MR imaging.
