Siemens Healthcare and the Steadman Hawkins Research Foundation (SHRF), Vail, Colorado (USA) have formed a strategic alliance that will add 3 Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to the Foundation. This will allow clinicians and researchers better access to advanced sports medical imaging. With the innovative Siemens MR system MAGNETOM® Verio they get a new class of MRI technology. It is the only system on the market today that combines 3 Tesla field strength, 70 centimeter Open Bore and Tim™ (Total imaging matrix) technology. This combination provides higher image quality, advanced diagnostic capabilities and delivers high-field imaging to many patients who could not benefit from the technology before.

J. Michael Egan, Chief Executive Officer at SHRF, reports, “Imaging has become a vital part of sports medicine for diagnosis, treatment, and postoperative evaluation.” As Vail in Colorado, USA, is widely known as a sports haven for adventure sports such as skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and biking, the MRI technology will be put to good use. With various applications and the strongest clinically used magnetic field strength, MAGNETOM Verio will mainly help to advance the field of orthopedic imaging and sports medicine radiology. Furthermore, specific clinical research programs for the hip, shoulder, and knee will be set up. The system is expected to be installed at the Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC) by the end of 2008.

Once the MAGNETOM Verio system is installed at the Foundation, Steadman Hawkins will use the data collected from it to test new software being developed specifically for orthopedic sports medicine and research being conducted in Vail. Researchers at the Foundation will then analyze the imaging data, compare it to their surgical data, and determine whether they can match the images with actual surgical observations. For instance, researchers will be able to evaluate physiology of cartilage tissue and determine the health and regeneration of that tissue in a totally noninvasive way, before and after treatment. Until now, an operation is performed to look inside the joint. From case to case a biopsy is done to evaluate the result or measure the progress of an operation. If the patient happens to be an athlete, in many instances, it will be possible to determine the status of an injury without surgery and without keeping the player off the field (or in Vail’s case, the mountain) until he or she recovers from the diagnostic procedure.