Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

If you own or operate an MRI scanner you understand how important it is to monitor your system's helium level and cooling performance. You may also know that even with regular checks, things that will drop your helium level dramatically and put you at risk for a magnet quench can still happen. Nights, weekends, even regular office hours between checkups are all times when a parts failure somewhere in your system can send the temperature up and the helium to a boil.

So, if you can't have someone watching your MRI 24 hours a day, what can you do to prevent incidents like this? The answer might be a device called a remote diagnostic unit (RDU). We'll tell you more about the RDU and how it works in the next few paragraphs.

Have you found yourself asking “How much is my MRI machine worth?” lately? In today’s secondary market imaging equipment in general, and MRI Machines specifically, can range widely in value. If you have a system for sale, or are considering upgrading in the next 3-6 months, you owe it to yourself to get a read on today’s market value.

This is a simple process and, if you have the right information at hand, there are equipment market valuation resources out there (Block Imaging is one) that can value your system quickly, accurately, and at no charge. The following are the pieces of information that drive the value of an MRI machine on the secondary market. Gather these details to maximize offers on your system.

To check out systems you might upgrade to, browse our inventory of MRI systems here.

Every so often, we at Block Imaging like to recognize imaging systems that stand out from their contemporaries in a particular area of user experience and patient service. This time, we'd like to recognize Siemens' Aera 1.5T for its top-level clinical capability among wide-bore MRI scanners.

The following are three reasons why we believe any buyer looking for an excellent 1.5T wide bore will be well-served by a Siemens Aera.

Getting a new open MRI scanner can be exciting: new capabilities, new ways to serve patients, and (maybe) eligibility for new reimbursements. But, before you go out and make an equipment purchase, you'll need to contain your excitement for a little while and sort out some logistics. Namely, you'll need to make sure just how much scanner your facility's infrastructure can handle.

With that need-to-know in mind, we've compiled the table below to show you the approximate system weight of the most popular open MRI scanners.

For customers in search of an Open MRI, the Philips Panorama 1.0T HFO (High Field Open) is likely to show up on the list of systems for your consideration. There are a few things that make the Philips Panorama a unique option, so we thought we'd highlight some of the pros and cons of this popular open MRI.