OREANDA-NEWS. November 27, 2012. Today at RSNA 2012, GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) introduced two new 1.5T MR systems - the Optima MR360 Advance* and Brivo† MR355 Inspire*, that both are intended to address the demand for increased patient comfort, increased productivity, and reduced total cost of ownership under the GE guiding principle of Humanizing MR.

The Optima MR360 Advance is a premium 1.5T system that is designed to enhance the patient’s MR experience while improving productivity and clinical confidence. This system’s technology is engineered to skillfully balance refined workflow capabilities and a broad array of clinical applications, while improving the patient’s MR experience.

GE MR’s Caring Design is welcoming for the patient and intuitive for the technologist; the exclusive Needle Free Suite of clinical applications can help reduce the need for biopsy, contrast, and sedation for patients. The system is intended to offer 16 channels and newly designed RF coils that further improve image quality and productivity.

The Brivo MR355 Inspire is designed to be a practical and easy-to-use 1.5T MR system with a broad array of clinical applications that is intended to enhance diagnostic confidence for clinicians, with intuitive workflow and a user interface that enhances productivity. This system is engineered to marry the diagnostic benefits of high-performance MR technology with a low total cost of ownership. The Brivo MR355 Inspire also features the new Caring Design to improve patient comfort.

Both the Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire are intended to be available with GE’s Express coil technology that was designed to be intuitive and easy for technologists to use without sacrificing image quality. This is also paired with a new low-height table for easy patient access, even for larger patients.

Both systems are designed to feature the OpTix Optical RF technology, which offers high channel count, analog to digital signal conversion where it matters – inside the scan room to minimize noise and signal degradation, but away from the patient to enhance comfort and safety. OpTix provides up to 27% higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over our conventional, analog signal receivers, improving image quality and clinical confidence.

Both systems are engineered to use ecomagination-qualified technologies like efficient gradients, water-cooling, super capacitors, and a Power Distribution Unit with a 28% lower energy rating, reducing energy consumption by 34% compared to previous generations. With all of these ecomagination features, these systems are intended to lower the total cost of ownership while still delivering excellent clinical performance.

“With GE’s 30 years of experience in MR innovation and refinement, the Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire are built on the high-definition MR platform our customers know and trust,” said Richard Hausmann, president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Magnetic Resonance business. “These systems are designed to enhance productivity and patient experience with our award-winning caring design and deliver the excellent performance clinicians need. The Optima MR360 Advance and Brivo MR355 Inspire are engineered to offer advanced clinical applications on eco-friendly systems while lowering the total cost of ownership for our customers.”