 I don't know how it is where you live, but someone here in the central part of the US has thrown the switch for us and now it's Autumn. The morning air is brisk, our children have returned to school and Sunday afternoons are again rededicated to football (for the record, we will NOT be discussing the Kansas City Chief's performance on the recent Monday Night Football).But as the scenery outside my office window begins to change, the issues on my desk this month are new takes on the familiar topic of MRI facility planning, design, construction and operation.
Our first feature takes a look at MRI vendor templates, what they provide and what they don't. Many imaging managers and staff, not to mention architects and engineers, regard these templates as gospel. Doing so may lead facilities to seriously over-estimate the degree to which patient safety, throughput and image quality are protected in their MRI suite.
Our second feature article analyzes the pair of Gulf Coast Hurricanes that struck last month, providing MRI and imaging facilities with valuable thoughts on how to protect your staff, patients and equipment in the event of a natural disaster.
Our final feature article describes how facilities should plan and impliment a ferrous quarantine area to segregate and secure potential missile threat objects. When properly planned, quarantine areas can help improve both patient safety as well as throughput.
Next month will feature our annual RSNA preview where we will highlight a couple of new products and technologies that we feel you should be aware of. For those going to Chicago, this should serve as a checklist of vendors to visit. For those not going, we hope that the feature will be a little piece of RSNA 'takeout' to keep you up to date on the latest developments.
Tobias Gilk
Junk Architects, PC
Invite Your Friends & Colleagues.
We are always pleased to share the newsletter with your friends. If you would like to invite a colleague to receive the complimentary version of the MRI Newsletter, please let us know and we will extend an invitation to them on your behalf.
Click here to refer a friend
Room-Busting Attendance at Symposium On Healthcare Design!
We were thrilled to have been asked back to present again at the National Symposium on Healthcare Design. It's a good thing the fire marshall wasn't in the building, because every seat was filled and there was standing-room only for our presentation on Universal Imaging Suite design.
If you would like additional information about our presentation, or if you're interested in learning more about a single suite design that can support multiple modalities, enabling tremendous flexibility in facility and equipment use, please contact us. Our contact information is at the bottom of the right-hand column, or you can click here to send us an email.
MRI Newsletter - Article Archive Is Now On Line!
We're pleased to provide an archive of all previous MRI Newsletter articles. Click here to see all the articles that have appeared in the Newsletter, including features on 'Magnetic Contamination,' 'ACR 4-Zone,' and 'Construction Planning,' just to name a few.
We should note that, while the archive index is available to everyone, only subscribers will be able to access the full text of all articles. Articles that appeared in this year's April and August issue are available to everyone.
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MRI Vendor Suite Templates:
What They Don't Show.
By Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA and Tobias Gilk
The most common mistake in MRI facility planning, design and construction is to use the vendor template – verbatim – as your suite design.
Don’t get us wrong, manufacturers’ templates are incredibly valuable in assessing the minimum technical requirements for operating and servicing the MRI equipment. But if you believe that the vendor-provided floor plans address the full range of safety, image quality, patient throughput, operational, equipment interference and payer issues, think again!
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Hurricane Epilogue:
An Emergency Preparedness Primer.
By Tobias Gilk
As Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pummeled the Gulf Coast with a wicked one-two punch, New Orleans was turned into a soggy ghost town, and coastal communities east and west of the crescent city were all but wiped off the map. Beyond the mass media 24-hour news network coverage of the physical and human toll that the storms inflicted, the stories of individual healthcare providers, imaging centers and hospital radiology departments haven’t received much attention.
But those of us a good distance away from ‘hurricane alley’ shouldn’t lull ourselves into a false sense of security. While the images and stories are fresh in our minds, we should leverage that palpable fear and explore what natural and man-made threats exist for each of us in our own locations.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Ferrous Quarantine:
Protecting Zone III And Zone IV.
By Tobias Gilk
By now, the ACR 4-Zone principle is old hat for many of us. We understand what makes Zone II different from Zone III, the access restrictions and patient screenings that are called for. What has never been well explained in the ACR White Paper on MR Safety, or any other publication for that matter, is just what technologists are supposed to do with the plethora of potential missile effect objects (pocket knives, money clips, barrettes, hearing aides, wallets, jewelry, oxygen cylinders, cell phones, pens, hand tools, pistols, orthopedic braces and steel-toed boots) that have been separated from patients.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
Over the coming months we will be sharing articles with you on a number of topics, from tools that are immediately applicable, to strategies that will help your facility on into the future. Several planned upcoming articles include:
- Hyperthermia: Another Interventional Application
- Access Control Devices: Keeping Zone III Secure
- Double Down: Raising The Stakes Of MRI Safety
As always, please feel free to contact us if there's ever a subject you would like us to explore in the newsletter.
We Love Hearing From You!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments on the articles or issues you'd like to see covered.
Junk Architects, PC
802 Broadway - 5th Floor
Kansas City, MO 64105
816-472-7722
MR_Expert@JunkArchitects.com
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