Siemens opens up high-field MR design

Jul 29, 2004

NEW YORK CITY - Siemens Medical Solutions has dialed the short-bore MRI concept up a notch with the debut of Magnetom Espree, a 1.5-tesla scanner with an ultra-short magnet bore design that the company claims brings open-style imaging to the 1.5-tesla segment.

Espree is Siemens' answer to customers who desire the image quality and clinical capabilities of a 1.5-tesla scanner while maintaining the patient comfort and flexibility of open systems, according to Nancy Gillen, vice president of Siemens' MR division.

"Patient comfort is its main focus and main attribute, if you look at (Espree's) specifications," she said.

Espree features a bore opening 70 cm in diameter and 125 cm in length, allowing for 60% of all routine MR exams to be completed with the patient's head outside the bore, according to the Malvern, PA-based vendor. Espree offers 30 cm of headroom, adding breathing space as well as room for larger patients.

"It has the same look and feel and dimensions as a CT scanner," said Thomas McCausland, president of Siemens' customer solutions group.

Siemens kicked off a road show to introduce Espree Thursday in New York City. The vendor is taking the tour on the road to 14 more sites in the next three months, concluding with a stop in Orlando on October 15.

Espree can perform routine and advanced 1.5-tesla applications, including MR angiography, diffusion, functional imaging, breast imaging, whole-body scanning, and spectroscopy, according to the vendor.

It's also the second Siemens MR scanner (following Magnetom Avanto) to employ the vendor's total imaging matrix (TIM) whole-body surface-coil technology. Tim brings a number of benefits, including increases in signal to noise, reductions in exam time, and the ability to perform whole-body imaging without patient repositioning or manual coil changes, Siemens said.

Espree's magnet was developed by Siemens Magnet Technologies (formerly Oxford Magnet Technology). Other Espree components were also developed in-house, Gillen said.

Espree received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance last week, and will be installed at its first site, the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, during the first week of September, Gillen said. The second site will be Turville Bay MRI Centers in Madison, WI, and two other Espree systems will be installed in the U.S. by the end of the year.

Siemens is now taking orders for Espree, which is priced at $1.5 million. Commercial deliveries will begin in February 2005. Espree will be available globally, although Siemens expects approximately 80% of installations in the first year will take place in the U.S., Gillen said.

With the addition of Espree, Siemens will now have three scanners in the 1.5-tesla range. Avanto will remain the choice of customers seeking a performance, high-end system, while Symphony will be a good option for small community hospitals with budgetary constraints, Gillen said.

"If you look at a customer that's focused on patient comfort and trying to market a differentiation, and is doing routine clinical imaging, then the Espree is the product for them," she said.

By Erik L. Ridley
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
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