The FINANCIAL — At RSNA, GE Healthcare is debuting MAVRIC SL†, a magnetic resonance imaging technique for imaging the joints of patients with metallic implants, in response to a growing clinical need for assessing soft tissues in the vicinity of arthroplasty and metallic instrumentation.
Between 1990 and 2002, the number of primary arthroplasty procedures in the United States increased by 62 percent for total hip replacements and by 195 percent for total knee replacements. Over the same period, the number of revision procedures increased by 79 percent for hips and 192 percent for knees.The need for arthroplasty revision is accelerating significantly due to the increased frequency of primary arthroplasty procedures and the younger ages at which these procedures are being performed. It is estimated that by 2030, arthroplasty revisions in the United States will increase from 2005 levels by 137 percent for hips and 601 percent for knees.
Combining acquisition and reconstruction techniques, MAVRIC SL — developed and evaluated in close collaboration with Stanford University and Hospital for Special Surgery — is intended to help reduce artifacts caused by the presence of metal in both in-plane and through-plane dimensions compared to conventional MR imaging techniques. Images generated by MAVRIC SL provide information that may be useful in helping physicians to image tissue adjacent to the metal instrumentation and take action to correct complications from joint implants.
Discussion about this post