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The American Mission Hospital (AMH) recently unveiled a state-of-the-art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine located at its upgraded Imaging Centre in Manama boasting special features to help relieve the anxiety patients often suffer when facing treatment.
‘Going for a scan’ can be a scary scenario, often coming at a time when a person is feeling vulnerable, and companies have been working tirelessly alongside medics to make the experience less scary.
AMH, the long-established not-for-profit medical and dental operation with a history of caring in the country dating back more than a century, has purchased the Philips Ingenia 1.5 Tesla, which according to its makers delivers ‘outstanding image quality’.
Dr George Cheriyan, AMH’s chief medical officer and CEO, said: “The imaging time is quicker than earlier machines with an average of 20 minutes, if no contrast is needed.
“It is less noisy and has the patient ambience and comfort as an added feature that allows a patient to watch a video and listen to music while undergoing the imaging.
“This significantly decreases the anxiety that some patients feel while undergoing the imaging.”
The aim is to offer patients a comforting, engaging visual distraction and also provides them with an opportunity to ‘personalise their experience and feel empowered’.
The patient can select a theme to fill the room with a colourful video image, combined with soothing sounds.
“This is the first Philips system to be installed in Bahrain,” Dr Cheriyan revealed. “We are happy that as part of our upgrading of our radiology capabilities we have a new purpose-built imaging centre that has the MRI, CT scan, a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Dexa) and ultrasound, all at one location.
“It will significantly enhance our imaging and diagnostic abilities providing more patient comfort, all at an affordable price.”
Equipped with the Omega HP gradient package, the 70cm wide-bore MRI delivers clear imaging, features a number of technology breakthroughs and offers easy, one-handed cable connections and an auto-eject feature for easy table undocking.
The machine, costing several hundred thousand dollars, will be used for helping medics access a variety of patient conditions providing imaging of the spine, head and brain, the musculoskeletal system and breasts, for example, for earlier diagnosis, essential and potentially life-saving.
The CT scan, however, remains a vital tool too in the hospital’s diagnostic armoury as it can prove superior for some conditions.
“MRIs are expensive machines with additional costs in maintenance and in providing ancillary infra-structure. However, the most important part of the service is the radiologist and the technician who operate the machines and report on the images. Quality and patient experience is only part of the imaging process.
“AMH is not a tertiary care centre dealing with oncology, interventional cardiology and radiology and hence we have one CT and one MRI machine, along with all other imaging modalities.
“Enhancing our imaging and laboratory capabilities are part of the overall growth strategy as we expand our services into the community and continue to grow.”
As well as Manama, AMH has a satellite clinic in Amwaj Islands and recently opened a new and improved medical centre in Saar.
As reported in GulfWeekly, it now plans to spread its operations to Riffa, Juffair and Hamad Town.
The imaging centre is available around-the-clock in the event of an emergency, however, normal operational hours will be from 7.30am to 10pm.
