Chi Fai Lo, MD
Radiologist and Director of Centra MRI Centre with 20 years of experience with his own private practice. His main field of work currently consists of musculoskeletal, neurological, and whole-body scanning.
Alan Tang
Technologist at the Centra MRI Centre, with more than 25 years of experience in imaging. His main duties include running the MRI Center, protocol and performance optimization, and training of junior staff.
In Hong Kong, location and manpower represent the main costs for any MRI business. Radiologist Dr. Chi Fai Lo says they saw an opportunity to start an MRI business in Hong Kong. In Causeway Bay, a vibrant center and major shopping district with not too much direct competition, they found an affordable spot at a good location. According to Dr. Lo and Mr. Tang, the small space of the facilities at Causeway Bay made it necessary to find a machine that would meet the needs of the company, but also fit in the limited space.
Other drivers of the decision to purchase the Prodiva system were imaging performance, cost and user friendliness. “Since the system offers the possibility to combine two coils for simultaneous use, we felt no need to purchase additional dedicated coils,” says Dr. Lo. “And the flexibility of the coils allows the technologists to easily perform scans according to patient needs, regardless of the type of scan.” Mr. Tang also noted how the homogeneity of the magnet helped optimize their protocols for imaging of extremities, such as hands, wrists, and feet, offering greater anatomical coverage during scanning. Fat saturation may represent a challenge in MRI of extremities but it’s excellent with Prodiva, said Mr. Tang. “Our traditional protocols couldn’t handle fat saturation very well. But the Prodiva has some protocols that are new for us, like mDIXON, which helped us overcome this problem.”
The team at the Causeway Bay clinic is striving to optimize their scanning and manpower capabilities, with the goal of scanning up to ten patients per day at the facility. Thanks to the design of the machine the site can operate without a separate room for the computer. And since the machine has low power use and does not generate much heat**, the facility saves money on air-conditioning and electrical costs. Dr. Lo also notes that the available service and engineering support contributed to the choice to purchase Prodiva, in order to cut down on machine down time and maintain throughput.
Though the facility is relatively new, the staff at the Causeway Bay clinic believe that having the Ingenia Prodiva will help them optimize their workflow and noted several features that are already helping them achieve this goal. According to Alan Tang, the automatic coil selection feature, where the scanner automatically determines which coil elements to use for scanning, saves them time. The integrated spine coil eliminates the need to change coil for each patient. “For example, we don’t need to take out the spine coil or other coils out of the machine for different patients. It’s very easy,” he says. “The possibility to combine multiple coils is also useful for performing whole body scans, and positioning is much easier for vascular and lower extremity imaging.”
Although the space is small, the staff at the Causeway Bay clinic can still offer patients some privacy. “Because of the small size of the machine, patients can have some privacy in a separate waiting area, while waiting for their scans,” says Mr. Tang. “We can arrange the time slots for patients so that no other patients are waiting at the same time.”
Patients also seem comfortable with the Ingenia Prodiva. Mr. Tang notices that most patients don’t seem to feel as hot as he experienced with previous MRI systems he worked with. Dr. Lo says “So far, we have had positive feedback from patients, operators, and referring physicians. Patients are very satisfied with this machine.”
*Formal registered name is Prodiva 1.5T CS/CX
**Compared to other Philips 1.5T MR systems
Results from case studies are not predictive of results in other cases. Results in other case may vary.
