Government acquires four Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines for hospitals

The government has acquired four new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines with high specifications, to facilitate health delivery in the country.

The technology, which is comparable to any in the Western world,  will now make it possible for Ghanaians to receive medical attention in the country instead of having to travel abroad.

Mr Mohamed Haroun, the Area Manager, Middle East Operation of Toshiba, innovators of the technology, made this known to journalists at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) when he arrived in the country for a three-day visit.

He said the machines, which would be installed at the regional hospitals in Ho and Cape Coast,  the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital, could be accessed by other neighbouring countries.

According to Mr Haroun, resident engineers have been stationed in the country to train Ghanaians to see to the maintenance of the machine, adding that two of the machines had already been installed while the remaining two would be installed by the end of March.

Mr Haroun said the new facility, which was captured under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), would also provide a safe system for children, as well as all categories of people.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a medical imaging primarily used in radiology to visualise the structure and function of the body.

It provides detailed images of the body in any plane. MRI provides much greater contrast between the different soft tissues of the body than does Computed Tomography (CT), making it especially useful in neurological (brain), musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and oncological (cancer) imaging.

Unlike CT, it uses no ionising radiation, but uses a powerful magnetic field to align the nuclear magnetisation of (usually) hydrogen atoms in water in the body.

Source: Daily Graphic