The medical charity Cobalt has been working in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in order to provide a unique interim MRI service. The Trust have been installing a new Philips 3.0T Ingenia MRI system and Cobalt have provided an interim MRI with the world’s first mobile Ingenia 1.5T MR system. Powered by the breakthrough dStream architecture – digital broadband - the Ingenia is the MR system that brings MR signal digitisation closer to the patient resulting in an increased Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), delivering enhanced clarity, speed, productivity and expandability.

By having access to the new mobile Ingenia, Trust radiographers gained applications experience before their new Ingenia was installed. Martin Peacock the Trust’s Imaging Directorate Manager said ‘‘it means that from the day our new static Ingenia MRI scanner was commissioned, there was no downtime whilst we trained staff as they were already up to speed. We hope it will be a great example of how appropriate collaboration can produce optimum results in meeting our MRI requirements”

Cobalt, a leading UK medical charity, has a history of adopting cutting-edge imaging technology to deliver premium healthcare services. They were the first in Europe to launch a 3.0T mobile service with the Philips Achieva 3.0T TX.

 “We have been providing a mobile MR service for nearly 20 years and have experienced many developments in MR technology; we believe the new Philips Ingenia will enable us to enhance the mobile services we currently provide through new technology” says Cobalt CEO Peter Sharpe “The new Philips FlexStream workflow will allow greater versatility and patient throughput through better coil and patient management. The DirectDigital coil and RF system will also enable up to a 40% increase in SNR with improved image quality. There is also a growing need to accommodate larger patients, and the 70 cm bore will provide more space and improved patient comfort, without compromise on image quality or field of view, the Ingenia mobile being the only wide bore mobile MR in the UK.”

The mobile was located at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, and operated 13 hours per day for 7 days of the week and scanned over 25 patients per day.