Mayo Clinic Brings Groundbreaking Technology in Diagnostic Imaging to Rochester Campus

Mayo Clinic is excited to announce that it will have groundbreaking technology in diagnostic imaging on its Rochester, Minn., campus.

Mayo Clinic will have the first clinical 7-Tesla MRI scanner in North America that has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This MRI scanner, the MAGNETOM® Terra, will be operational at Mayo Clinic later in 2017. The manufacturer, Siemens Healthineers, received FDA clearance on Oct. 12 for clinical use of the scanner to image the head and knee. Mayo Clinic will be the first medical center in North America to offer patients advanced diagnostic imaging using an MRI scanner with the strongest magnetic field available for clinical use.

Mayo radiologists anticipate that they will use this MRI scanner for sophisticated neurological and musculoskeletal imaging to, among other applications:

·         Achieve higher-resolution imaging of the brain to visualize small lesions in patients who present with trauma-related micro-hemorrhages or multiple sclerosis lesions that might not be detected at lower field strengths.

·         Visualize the anatomic source of seizures in previously undiagnosed patients, enabling the possibility of surgical cure.

·         Improve anatomic detail and support a higher degree of confidence in noninvasive diagnosis when imaging cartilage and other tissues of the knee.

“This is an incredibly exciting addition to our fleet of MRI scanners and provides our physicians an additional transformational resource to help ensure that our patients receive the correct diagnosis and treatment,” says Kent Thielen, M.D., chair, Department of Radiology. “The 7-Tesla MRI scanner also provides our institution access to a tremendous tool that will propel our innovations in medical imaging.”