Three MRI scanners intended to detect mild traumatic brain injuries in soldiers in Afghanistan have been dismantled.
According to a January 18 article in USA Today, use of the MRI scanners ended in February 2013. The newspaper quoted Air Force Col. Mark Mavity, Central Command surgeon, as saying the scanners did not necessarily help the treatment of the soldiers and were not worth the cost to keep the devices in the war zone.
Mavity cited the de-escalation of the war in Afghanistan, the annual $3 million operating cost of the scanners, and the declining number of U.S. casualties as reasons for dismantling the magnets.
The MRI systems were shipped to Afghanistan three years ago. At the time, then-admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called their delivery and use a high priority. He also reportedly confronted military medical officials who Mullen felt were dragging their feet on the installation of the systems.
The scanners were in operation by November 2011. The final decision to stop using the systems was made in February 2012 by Central Command and Air Force Lt. Gen. Douglas Robb, then medical adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
