[Operation of multidisciplinary, interventional 0.5 Tesla magnetic resonance tomograph. Technical and logistic...

Multidisciplinary usage of a MRI system with a superconducting 0.5-T magnet (Signa SP, General Electric) with a vertical gap suited for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions raises complex problems. The MR equipment, including a special localizing system and the instruments for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, is described. Before putting the system into operation tests were necessary to check MR compatibility of various materials and instruments and to build some auxiliary equipment. We report on the coordinating activities of the radiologist in the context of MR use by different medical specialities. Within the course of 12 months, 428 examinations/interventions of different kinds were carried out, among them 75 functional examinations of the spine or of joints, 31 diagnostic biopsies, 23 cerebral biopsies, and 23 operations. The special design of the Signa SP allows the whole scale of functional examinations, up to complete neurosurgical interventions, in the sitting position and under nearly real-time imaging control.