Thousands of patients will benefit from state-of-the-art technology as one of the world's most advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners was officially launched at Bradford Royal Infirmary today (Nov 16).

The new £1 million MRI scanner, which aims to improve treatment and offer faster and more in-depth information came on line in August and will see up to 30 patients a day (over its 12 hours of work).

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Clinical Director for Imaging, Jonathan Barber said: “We have invested over £1.5m in purchasing the new scanner and re-developing the radiology suite. This new technology will enable the hospital to meet the growing demand for its services, reduce waiting times for patients and provide a quicker, more convenient service.

“I am delighted that our patients will benefit from the use of the most up-to-date technology available which will further enhance the diagnostic capabilities that we provide to our patients.

“We have also undertaken significant re-building of our facilities and I am sure that patients will benefit from the pleasing environment and the patient-centred layout.”

The new MRI scanner, which is of particular help in treating people with cancer, problems in their bone joints or those who have neurological conditions, weighs a couple of tonnes and uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a detailed image of the inside of the body. It consists of a large tube that contains a series of powerful magnets and a new, faster, table which allows the operator to remove a patient from the table in under 30 seconds, in the hope that it will allow more people to use the scanner every day.

Mark Danks, East Region Manager for GE Healthcare who supplied the scanner added: “The Discovery MR450 is among the most technologically advanced systems of its kind. It will allow the team at Bradford to more easily conduct difficult scans, improve productivity and help with the early detection of disease, making treatments easier and more cost-effective”. 

The patient’s journey to the scanners also received a boost after renowned Yorkshire artist, Ian Beesley, was commissioned by the Friends of the BRI to provide artwork to the corridor which links the Trust’s two MRI scanners.“I’m absolutely delighted to see the artwork which Ian has provided for the walls of the corridors today,” said Friends of the BRI chairman, Trevor Constantine.

“There’s been lots of research into how pictures can calm patients as they are waiting for procedures and we really hope that the work that Ian has created will ease patient’s through their scan.” 

Ian’s pieces of artwork are based on the early European navigators’ belief that compass needles were attracted either to a magnetic mountain or magnetic island.

“The MRI’s magnetic field is aligned to Magnetic North and so to the Pole Star, so both the scanner and magnetic north are symbols of navigation and journeys; one in the literal geographical sense and the other in a metaphorical sense as in a journey through the body navigating tissues and organs.

“I have created a series of images that represent a journey towards Magnetic North, which will reference time, the unseen and the circular shape of the scanner.

“All the images featured were taken facing Magnetic North along an imaginary line starting from the BRI’s MRI unit and then travelling across the Yorkshire countryside in a northernly direction.”

The first pictures from Ian’s journey took him over Ilkley Moor and past sites including an ancient stone circle and an abandoned millstone quarry – some of the ancient cups and stones were believed to have been used for healing purposes in days gone by.

Ian continued: “The exposure times on the photographs took between 30-45 minutes and are based on the average times taken for a person to pass through the scanner.”

Yorkshire poet, Ian McMillan, has also written a poem in response to the artwork which will be recited tomorrow for the first time.

The new MRI machine and magnet was lifted into the hospital over the summer months by a crane while the GE Healthcare team, who supplied the machine, were waiting to start the installation of the scanner at the radiology suite.
The old scanner (which was presented to the hospital by the readers of the Telegraph and Argus newspaper, in Bradford, after they raised an amazing £1million for their Millennium Appeal) was winched out of the suite at the end of its working life. During its decade of use, it scanned more than 100,000 patients.

A second MRI scanner, which is still in use today, was bought by the Foundation Trust in 2006.