Upright MRI Benefits & Specifications

Upright MRI Benefits

The revolutionary design of FONAR's Upright MRI alows patients to simply walk in and be scanned. The Upright MRI allows all parts of the body, particularly the spine and joints, to be imaged in the weight bearing state. The system is equipped with our unique MRI-compatible motorized patient handling system that will move the patient into the magnet and place the anatomy of interest into the center of the magnet gap. It is also able to rotate the vertically-oriented patient into a horizontal position so the patient can be scanned lying down just like in the case of a traditional MRI.

Distinctive Benefits Include:

Mega-Open MRI
Proven 0.6 Tesla performance
Scan patients lying down
Scan patients in flexion, extention, rotation and lateral bending
Scan patients in a sitting position
Position MRI (pMRI)
Scan Patients in their position of pain
Scan Patients with Cerebrovascular insufficiency in the upright position of symptoms
Patient convenience: Walk in, sit or stand during the scan and walk out
An unprecedented degree of patient comfort due to the unobstructed view of the scanner room from inside the magnet. There is nothing in front of the patient's face.

Specifications:

Patient Handling System

Translation function advances the upright or recumbent patient into the center of the magnet
Elevator function places standing patient's anatomy of interest at magnets isocenter
Tilt function rotates the patient from upright to the recumbent position
Table is slightly tilted at 5 degrees to stabilize patients during upright scanning
Support fixtures for RF receiver coils integrated into the table
Motorized and computer-controlled
Fully MRI-compatible

Patient Comfort

Mega-Open Design
The most non-claustrophobic open MRI
Walk in, Stand up during the scan and walk out
Removable seat
An unprecedented degree of patient comfort because there is an unobstructed view of the scanner room from inside the magnet. There is nothing in front of the patient's face.
Movable, trans-polar stabilization bars to enhance patient comfort and stability during multi-positional scans such as flexion, extension, rotation and lateral bending.
Whisper Gradients for quiet scans

Position MRI (pMRI)

Weight-bearing studies of the human anatomy
Unrestricted range of motion for flexion, extension, rotation and lateral bending
Brain scans with the patient upright (vertical)
Patient positioning plays a critical role in detecting clinically significant pathology

Magnet

0.6 Tesla field strength
Iron-frame electromagnet
Front-open and top-open magnet design
Magnetic poles are on the left and right of the patient
Horizontal (transaxial) magnetic field orientation 18 inch (46 cm) pole-to-pole horizontal gap
Multi-positional capabilities for positional MRI (pMRI) studies