USFDA approves GE's new MR system

06 May 2008

Mumbai: The US Food and Drug Administration has approved GE Healthcare'sf new 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner, the latest addition to GE's Signa family of MR systems. The new Signa MR750 3.0T was introduced at the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in Toronto that got underway on Sunday, 3 May and will run on till 9 May.

Equipped with the industry's most powerful gradients, easy-to-use workflow features and the company's advanced thermal management system, the Signa MR750 delivers up to 60 per cent additional anatomical coverage and resolution unit per time. The system also allows for up to five times the imaging performance over previous generations, increasing the freedom for advanced application development, including a routine liver exam in 15 minutes and a full breast exam in only two sequences.

''GE is committed to pushing the boundaries for MRI capabilities and we believe this new product will do that now and in the future,'' said Jim Davis, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare's MR business. ''We expect this product to be a robust and clinically capable MR system that will simplify MR exams without compromising quality or productivity.''

The Signa MR750 features a newly designed RF Transmit system maximising performance with a 17 per cent gain in scanning efficiency. In addition, the system includes the GE-exclusive Optical RF Technology that adds up to 27 per cent higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over conventional, non-optical MR receivers by reducing electrical noise and increasing signal detection.

When combined with GE's use of high-density surface coils, the optical receive chain is a critical path for ensuring clear signal reception and data analysis. To ensure that the high-density approach will always be maintained, the Signa MR750 3.0T architecture is scalable to 128 channels of simultaneous data acquisition.

Features:
The Signa MR750 features a newly developed parallel imaging technique entitled ARC, auto calibrating reconstruction for cartesian imaging to improve full-body imaging on 3.0T MR. In addition to reducing specific absorption rate (SAR), the ARC technique also improves body imaging by allowing: