Patients willing to travel for new, comfortable MRI
Advanced technology offers the only MRI in the Southeast that removes the claustrophobia that many patients find stressful.
By JANE MADDEN WELCH
Published January 2, 2004
[Times photos: Douglas Clifford]
Robert Shallow, 50, of Gulf Shores, Ala., gets a cervical scan Monday on a specialized MRI scanner, which can scan patients while they stand, sit or lie or are suspended in an inclined position.
Shallow, who suffers from rheumatoid ankylosing spondylitis in his neck, came to Rose Radiology in East Lake hoping the scanner might find the cause of spontaneous loss of consciousness which he believes is associated with his neck condition.
EAST LAKE - When a patient needing an MRI is willing to fly from London to the Imaging Center at Boot Ranch to get it, there must be a reason.
State-of-the-art technology allowing the patient to stand or sit in an open area rather than lying down and being enclosed in the traditional MRI "tube" is that reason.
Imaging Center owner Dr. Manuel Rose offers one of the few high-field, standup open MRIs available in the Southeast.
"I'm from Boston, and it astonishes me that there isn't one available in Massachusetts," he said.
Sherri Schenk, the clinic's director of finance and corporate development, said they receive requests from all over.
"The patient from London discovered us on the Internet," she said. "He is severely claustrophobic and can't take a traditional MRI."
Unlike traditional magnetic resonance imagers, the standup MRI allows images from a number of weight-bearing positions. The patient can stand up, sit down, flex or bend. It can accommodate up to 500 pounds.
"The patient can be scanned in the position that is causing them pain," Rose said.
"Not only is it a benefit for patient comfort, but it can be a tremendous help in diagnosing the problem," he said. "We are only as good as what we can see."
Equipped with the most expensive magnet on the market, the standup MRI machine cost more than $1.5-million. When the Imaging Center opened in January 2002, it had the second such machine in the world for commercial use. The manufacturer, New York-based Fonar Corp., announced Dec. 22 that it has sold only 62 of the machines.
Insurance coverage for a standup MRI scan is the same as for a regular MRI, Rose said. For a patient who had no insurance, a scan using the standup MRI would cost $900, Schenk said.
Clinic director of operations Doree Michon said the MRI helps the staff pay attention to patient comfort.
"Patients wear scrubs like the staff, not gowns that flap open in the back," she said. "You can even watch TV or listen to music during the MRI.
"Many people get anxious when they undergo scans," Michon said. "We make a point of helping them relax."
To accommodate patients, the Imaging Center is open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Rose, 43, is a board-certified radiologist with extensive training in pain management. He owns Rose Radiology in Brandon, which also has a standup MRI, the only two operating in the Tampa Bay area.
The Imaging Center, 4133 Woodlands Parkway, also offers traditional MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, mammograms and pain management. Dr. Alan Schwartz is the other radiologist and Rose's partner.
At 71, Kathleen Kosch was recently having her first MRI.
"I'm very claustrophobic," she said.
"When I heard about this option, I was so relieved."
"That fact that it is so close is even better," said Kosch, who lives in Palm Harbor.
Kosch was getting a scan to try to determine the cause of her headaches. Her test took about 45 minutes.
"I honestly don't think I would have made it being closed in," she said.
