August 10, 2011 — Toshiba has joined the 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) market with the company's new Vantage Titan 3T open-bore MR system receiving clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration last week.
Following the trend in MR technology to give patients more comfort and breathing room, the system offers a wide-diameter, 71-cm open bore, in addition to a variety of trademark features, including noise-reduction technology said to be capable of reducing noise by as much as 90%; proprietary contrast-free magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) techniques, and a unique multiphase transmission system designed to reduce shady "dielectrical" effects.
Patient claustrophobia has been a common issue with previous generation MR systems, which typically had open bore apertures of 60 cm, but the 71-cm aperture is in line with the latest generation 3-T MR systems offered by companies such as Siemens and GE, said William F. Bradley, MD, PhD, chairman of radiology at the University of California, San Diego.
"All of the major MR vendors are going to 70-cm bores now, so this doesn't necessarily put Toshiba ahead of the game, but it certainly makes the system state-of-the-art," Dr. Bradley said.
In addition to the wider bore, the system's table has a weight limit of up to 550 lb to better accommodate bariatric patients. But Dr. Bradley says the greatest benefit he sees in wider diameter is in simply giving patients of any size more space.
"The top benefit I see with a larger bore is in addressing the problem of claustrophobia," he said. "We have anywhere from 10% to 20% of failed exams using the conventional 60-cm bore magnets, and the 70-cm systems are much wider and open and people don't tend to get as claustrophobic."
The system's bore design has a 55 × 55 × 50-cm field of view and a multiple coil port, allowing for 70% of all procedures to be performed feet first, according to Toshiba.
The Vantage Titan 3T features a Pianissimo noise-reduction system, which is particularly important with 3T systems and is not a feature even on the latest models of similar systems.
"The 3-Tesla scanners are much noisier than the 1.5-Tesla systems, so it's even more important to have this and it's definitely much more patient friendly," Dr. Bradley explained.
Another of the scanner's defining features is its multiphase transmission system, which, with 4 ports of radio frequency (RF) transmission, is more robust than any transmission system on the market.
According to Stuart Clarkson, director of the MR Business Unit for Toshiba, the system addresses problems with artifacts and the dielectrical effect that can cause shading on images and are common with 3-T technology.
"Three-Tesla has classically been good for head and knee imaging, but it has always had a slight limitation from a physics point of view in terms of this dielectrical effect," he explained. "To mitigate that, we've introduced the first dual RF amplifier transmission system that is driven through 4 ports.
"Some of our competitors are still using a single RF amplifier, and some have gone to 2 RF and 2 ports, but no one to our knowledge has dual RF and 4 ports, so we think this is significant, particularly for abdominal work, spinal work, and some cardiac imaging," he said.
Dr. Bradley agreed that the system gives the Toshiba system a useful advantage.
"This is a reasonably sophisticated parallel transmission system that rivals the best that are out there right now commercially," said Dr. Bradley.
In addition, Toshiba's suite of contrast-free MRA techniques allows for imaging that spares patients the need for intravenous (IV) injection and addresses concerns of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis associated with renal failure patients who receive the MR contrast agent gadolinium.
The contrast-free MRA techniques offered include fresh blood imaging for the evaluation of peripheral vascular diseases of the lower legs and extremities; contrast-free improved angiography for easier visualization of smaller vessels; time-spatial labeling inversion pulse for evaluation of hemodynamic, functional assessments and visualization of vascular structures; and time space angiography to create noncontrast time-resolved imaging with high temporal resolution, according to Toshiba marketing materials.
The techniques are particularly beneficial in terms of patient satisfaction. Dr. Bradley noted.
"It's great because you don't need to give patients contrast agent," he said. "Today we check for any renal failure that might not be readily apparent, so it's become less of an issue, but still, if I'm a patient and I need to have an MR angiogram, I'd much rather have it without contrast so I don't need to have an IV."
Combined, all of the features give the Titan 3T MR system an attractive, competitive edge and should help the technology gain a loyal following, Dr. Bradley said.
"While they're a bit late to the game in terms of the larger open bore, I think the Titan is a very nice system offering a few features others may not have, so it's basically everything you need for a state-of-the-art 3T MR system."
Dr. Bradley has served on advisory boards for Toshiba in the past but not for the 3T MR system.
Following the trend in MR technology to give patients more comfort and breathing room, the system offers a wide-diameter, 71-cm open bore, in addition to a variety of trademark features, including noise-reduction technology said to be capable of reducing noise by as much as 90%; proprietary contrast-free magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) techniques, and a unique multiphase transmission system designed to reduce shady "dielectrical" effects.
Patient claustrophobia has been a common issue with previous generation MR systems, which typically had open bore apertures of 60 cm, but the 71-cm aperture is in line with the latest generation 3-T MR systems offered by companies such as Siemens and GE, said William F. Bradley, MD, PhD, chairman of radiology at the University of California, San Diego.
"All of the major MR vendors are going to 70-cm bores now, so this doesn't necessarily put Toshiba ahead of the game, but it certainly makes the system state-of-the-art," Dr. Bradley said.
In addition to the wider bore, the system's table has a weight limit of up to 550 lb to better accommodate bariatric patients. But Dr. Bradley says the greatest benefit he sees in wider diameter is in simply giving patients of any size more space.
"The top benefit I see with a larger bore is in addressing the problem of claustrophobia," he said. "We have anywhere from 10% to 20% of failed exams using the conventional 60-cm bore magnets, and the 70-cm systems are much wider and open and people don't tend to get as claustrophobic."
The system's bore design has a 55 × 55 × 50-cm field of view and a multiple coil port, allowing for 70% of all procedures to be performed feet first, according to Toshiba.
The Vantage Titan 3T features a Pianissimo noise-reduction system, which is particularly important with 3T systems and is not a feature even on the latest models of similar systems.
"The 3-Tesla scanners are much noisier than the 1.5-Tesla systems, so it's even more important to have this and it's definitely much more patient friendly," Dr. Bradley explained.
Another of the scanner's defining features is its multiphase transmission system, which, with 4 ports of radio frequency (RF) transmission, is more robust than any transmission system on the market.
According to Stuart Clarkson, director of the MR Business Unit for Toshiba, the system addresses problems with artifacts and the dielectrical effect that can cause shading on images and are common with 3-T technology.
"Three-Tesla has classically been good for head and knee imaging, but it has always had a slight limitation from a physics point of view in terms of this dielectrical effect," he explained. "To mitigate that, we've introduced the first dual RF amplifier transmission system that is driven through 4 ports.
"Some of our competitors are still using a single RF amplifier, and some have gone to 2 RF and 2 ports, but no one to our knowledge has dual RF and 4 ports, so we think this is significant, particularly for abdominal work, spinal work, and some cardiac imaging," he said.
Dr. Bradley agreed that the system gives the Toshiba system a useful advantage.
"This is a reasonably sophisticated parallel transmission system that rivals the best that are out there right now commercially," said Dr. Bradley.
In addition, Toshiba's suite of contrast-free MRA techniques allows for imaging that spares patients the need for intravenous (IV) injection and addresses concerns of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis associated with renal failure patients who receive the MR contrast agent gadolinium.
The contrast-free MRA techniques offered include fresh blood imaging for the evaluation of peripheral vascular diseases of the lower legs and extremities; contrast-free improved angiography for easier visualization of smaller vessels; time-spatial labeling inversion pulse for evaluation of hemodynamic, functional assessments and visualization of vascular structures; and time space angiography to create noncontrast time-resolved imaging with high temporal resolution, according to Toshiba marketing materials.
The techniques are particularly beneficial in terms of patient satisfaction. Dr. Bradley noted.
"It's great because you don't need to give patients contrast agent," he said. "Today we check for any renal failure that might not be readily apparent, so it's become less of an issue, but still, if I'm a patient and I need to have an MR angiogram, I'd much rather have it without contrast so I don't need to have an IV."
Combined, all of the features give the Titan 3T MR system an attractive, competitive edge and should help the technology gain a loyal following, Dr. Bradley said.
"While they're a bit late to the game in terms of the larger open bore, I think the Titan is a very nice system offering a few features others may not have, so it's basically everything you need for a state-of-the-art 3T MR system."
Dr. Bradley has served on advisory boards for Toshiba in the past but not for the 3T MR system.
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