MRI of peripheral joints with a low-field dedicated system: a reliable and cost-effective alternative to high-field units?
In the age of health care cost containment new imaging technology has to meet diagnostic requirements as well as economic limitations. In the MR sector new dedicated systems promise reliable diagnostic information at considerably lower costs than whole-body imagers. Within the past 18 months we have examined 2200 patients with acute and chronic lesions of peripheral joints (knee, ankle, foot, elbow, wrist, hand) in a 0.2T dedicated MR system (ARTOSCAN, Esaote Biomedica, Genoa, Italy). We report our experience with this system focusing on its special features, cost-effectiveness and on diagnostic accuracy of low-field MR studies of the knee in correlation with arthroscopy and in comparison with high-field whole-body imagers.
Kersting-Sommerhoff
B
B
Department of Radiology, Technische Universität, Munich, Germany.
Hof
N
N
Lenz
M
M
Gerhardt
P
P
D000208:Acute Disease; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000473:pathology; D001182:Arthroscopy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003199:Computer Systems; D003363:Cost Control; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000473:pathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D006225:Hand / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software; D013640:Tarsal Joints / Q000473:pathology; D014955:Wrist Joint / Q000473:pathology