NEW MRI at NYACK MR:
More Comfortable for Patient, Better Images for Doctors

No one likes to spend time stuck in a tunnel. That's one reason the new, more open, highspeed, state-of-the-art MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) at NMR is an important improvement for patients.

A relatively new medical imaging technique, the MRI creates a virtual map of the inner workings of the human body, supplying doctors with detailed images without even as much as breaking the skin. The health advantage is that this method uses magnetism instead of x-rays and spares the patient from exposure to radiation.

Advances in MRI imaging techniques serve as a formidable weapon in the arsenal against stroke, the nation's third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, according to the American Heart Association. When a stroke occurs, a blood clot blocks a blood vessel or artery. In other instances, a blood vessel breaks. This interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain.

"We can now diagnose a stroke immediately," says Dr. Evan Kaminer, board certified radiologist at Nyack. "In the past, a diagnosis could take 24 to 48 hours using a CT scan."

Using a magnetic field rather than x-rays, an MRI can detect immediately what a CT scan may miss. With spectroscopic imaging we can look at the brain on a molecular level
using computers that create a three-dimensional map of the brain, he adds. Such a picture allows us to characterize and diagnose brain tumors and other ailments and perform less invasive surgery, reducing the risk of harming normal brain tissue. Nyack's neurosurgical services are among the top in New York, and there is no better system out there for what the newly arrived MRI can do. "This technique gives the neurosurgeon real-time visual access to images of the brain during the surgical procedure," he says. "Patients can now have all services including diagnosis, therapy and follow-up right here at Nyack.";

But the most important feature of the new MRI is its unparalleled accuracy. It lets the sub-specialty-trained radiologists of H.V.R.A. see more and understand more about a patient's condition.

The improved image quality and speed of the brand new high-tech machine add up to important differences for patients and doctors.

"In addition, patients can now have noninvasive studies done with the MRI that in the past could only be obtained with invasive techniques," says Dr. Mark Geller, co-director of the Radiology Department at Nyack Hospital and C.E.O. of H.V.R.A.

For example, MR Angiography allows doctors to visualize blood vessels with the same accuracy that could only be obtained in the past with hospitalization and a surgical procedure placing catheters directly into blood vessels through the groin. Now these pictures can be obtained in a 15-minute MRI exam.

"A new technique called MRCP is another noninvasive MRI procedure that allows us to look for obstructing gallstones, which other wise require a semi-invasive procedure to diagnose," Dr. Geller explains.

In addition, adding to the doctors' ever improving diagnostic arsenal is the new ProstaScint exam for detecting the spread of prostate cancer. This exam is performed with Nyack Hospital's new ADAC Dual Head Gamma Camera, one of the most sophisticated of its kind. When coupled with the MRI, ProstaScint is the most specific test around for determining how much prostate cancer has spread within the body.

"While we still don't know how to prevent prostate cancer, our best hope at present is early detection," says Dr. Kaminer. "Should a doctor suspect, through a biopsy, physical exam, or through PSA testing, that the cancer may have spread, the new Prostascint exam, together with a prostate MRI, is the best method we have today of determining wither the cancer has affected the lymph nodes." Men with prostate cancer should have regular examinations to monitor the disease and especially to detect any possible spreading of cancerous cells. For additional informational on any radiological procedure or to schedule an appointment, call Nyack Magnetic Resonance at 914-348-2450.