 This issue of the MRI Newsletter isn't officially on my Thanksgiving preparation list, but it needs to get completed before I can begin focussing on the traditional Turkey-day build-up.
The stuffing. The cranberry relish. The sweet potato casserole. The box of granola bars for my suit coat pockets, double-thick socks and foot powder.
OK, those last three aren't for Thanksgiving, but rather for the post-Thanksgiving ritual that is RSNA.
In our tradition of giving readers of the MRI Newsletter a sneak peek at new offerings at RSNA in the November issue, we've got a tantalizing tease for a new scanner to be unveilled by Siemens next week in Chicago.
This issue also includes an article that takes the statistical abstractions of accident rates and translates them into real-world figures that we can understand, illustrating the crying need for oversight in patient safety efforts.
Have you been following our monthly "Forward to a Friend" promotion? October's winner is E.M. Perez of New York, USA who was picked to win a free full-access subscription for the entire year of 2008! You can win a full access subscription too. Just use the forward feature at the foot of this email to be automatically entered. Look at the 'Share The News' section below for all the details.
As always, we hope that you will contact us if you have any questions about anything you read in the newsletter, or if we can be of any assistance to you.
Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA
Share The News,
Win A Subscription!
As a special offer, we are now offering one free full-access subscription each month. When you use the 'Forward This To A Colleague' button at the foot of each emailed newsletter, we will pick one person at random to receive a free full-access subscription for 2008.
Forward the MRI Newsletter to your colleagues (use the link at the foot of this email) and you will have a chance to win a free year's subscription. Forward it to 5 or 10 MRI colleagues and you help to assure that we'll draw your name!
Look For Our 2008 Presentation Dates...
We're still months away from the start of 2008, but we're already actively working on setting up our presentation calendar for next year. In the next weeks and months, we'll be posting information on our presentations right here! Check each month to see if we're speaking at a conference you want to attend, and come join us.
Are you interested in having us present at an event you're organizing? We'd love to hear from you and see how we can help your next professional or corporate event. Please contact us to inquire about the presentations we can provide.
MRI Newsletter - Article Archive
Is Now On Line!
Don't forget that the archive of previous MRI Newsletter articles has been recently updated. Click here to see all the articles that are available.
While the archive index is available to everyone, only subscribers will be able to access the full text, except the published public-access issues.
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Friendly Format Magnets:
Siemens Unveils More Open 3T
By Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA and Tobias Gilk
Technical hurdles notwithstanding, MRI manufacturers have been working diligently to create new MRI formats that combine increasing magnet strength with more patient-friendly designs. Whether it’s GE’s 0.7T or Philips’ 1T ‘hamburger bun’ open magnets, or Siemens’ wider-bore Espree 1.5T, or the collection of extremity, upright or other shapes and configurations of MRI, the industry is looking to provide both image quality and patient experience improvements. To date, these friendlier format magnets have seemed bound to field strengths around 1 Tesla, though it now seems that Siemens is about to blow the door off of that barrier, just in time for RSNA.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Canary In A Coal Mine
By Tobias Gilk
There’s safety, and then there’s compliance. Safety involves risk assessments and difficult decisions about how to allocate finite resources. Compliance involves completing the task that allows you to check the box that says that you’ve done your duty. With virtually no regulation in MRI suite design, there aren’t many elements in MRI suite design that could currently be classified as ‘compliance’ issues. One notable exception would be the oxygen sensor.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
One In A Million
By Tobias Gilk
We use the phrase, “one in a million,” as if it meant unique. That’s understandable because, frankly, it’s difficult for most of us to wrap our minds around a number as large as a million. A “one in a million” day happens only once every 2,740 years. A “one in a million” medical tragedy would be a US adult dying from an appendicitis. A “one in a million” accident would be dying in a fireworks explosion.
If MRI accidents are also a “one in a million” event, how long must we wait before one occurs in the US? 5 years? 10 years?
Would you believe just over 12 days?!
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
In the upcoming 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:
- Lighting In The MRI Suite
- ACR MRI Accreditation Changes?
- Safety: Our New Year Resolution
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.
MRI-Planning.com
802 Broadway - 5th Floor
Kansas City, MO 54105
816-472-7722
MRI_Expert@MRI-Planning.com
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