Manchester United FC welcomes first-class MRI for quick, quiet & quality sports imaging

Routine monitoring of player health and specialist sports medicine research projects at Manchester United Football Club have received a boost with the introduction of the Vantage Galan 3T MRI from Canon Medical Systems UK. The system has taken its place in the club’s state-of-the-art imaging centre at Old Trafford training ground alongside CT and ultrasound imaging systems supplied as part of Canon Medical’s role as ‘Official Medical Systems Partner’.

Manchester United FC’s doctors and physiotherapists will benefit from quicker MRI scans and more detailed image outputs via the Vantage Galan MRI, ensuring optimum health planning of the team’s premier and youth league players. Reactive and proactive health surveillance, performance management & injury grading will also be optimised from enhanced functionality of the system, delivering sharper, clearer images for decision making. The players undergoing MRI procedures will benefit from a quieter and more comfortable scan due to Canon Medical’s Pianissimo and Pianissimo Zen technology that significantly reduce noise in and around the MRI environment.

“Even the smallest injury in elite sports has implications. Having the right diagnostic tool at the peak of its development is vital to diagnosing subtle injuries that could impact player health,” states Dr Steve McNally, Head of Football Medicine & Science at Manchester United Football Club. “Using high resolution MRI therefore helps to identify very minute intra-articular joint injuries, muscle oedema changes or very small fibre tears.”

He continues, “We are very pleased with the ease of image acquisition and quality from the new Vantage Galan MRI for diagnostic purposes. We are looking forward to the additional opportunities the new technology provides for specialist imaging and post-processing applications that will enhance our ‘performance imaging’ and athlete health surveillance projects.”

The Vantage Galan 3T MRI from Canon Medical enhances image quality for more confident diagnoses and makes examinations faster for better workflow efficiencies. It offers a maximum gradient amplitude of 45 mT/m, a sew rate of 200 T/m/sec and employs propriety Pure RF Rx and Pure RF Tx technology dramatically increasing the signal to noise (SNR).

Scan planning can also be enhanced with ForeSee View, a new tool that previews slice planning in real time, particularly useful for anatomies that are traditionally difficult to scan. In sports medicine this is particularly useful when imaging orthopaedic joints and ligaments. This includes the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a key knee joint ligament most often torn during sports that involve rapid change in direction and sharp stops in movement. The ForeSee View functionality will reduce the need for re-scanning and can save time on planning for all body regions.

EasyTech Cardiac incorporating CardioLine+, an application that accurately and automatically identifies all the right and left ventricular and cardiac valvular planes, is also included in the Manchester United FC Vantage Galan MRI installation. It reduces examination times to a minimum, enabling challenging cardiac examinations to be performed easily as part of daily routines. This functionality will be particularly useful for proactive sporting health surveillance campaigns, for example, cardiology profiling that is required every two years on anyone undertaking vigorous training and competitive sports matches.

“Adding the Vantage Galan MRI to our system line-up at Manchester United Football Club is a natural progression of providing our best-of-breed imaging solutions over the last 6 years to monitor the very highest echelon of professional athletes,” states Mark Hitchman, Managing Director at Canon Medical Systems UK. “At the same time, the Galan MRI will be used for research projects that have the potential to cascade understanding of anatomical conditions to benefit wider health populations.”

Canon Medical has been Manchester United Football Club’s ‘Official Medical Systems Partner’ since 2012 providing CT, MRI and Ultrasound systems to ensure that the world-class players and youth academy receive the best possible diagnostic care. Other football medicine partnerships include FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and English national league club Barnet FC in North London and Spanish La Liga team RCD Espanyol. Wider sports medicine collaborations across Europe include basketball, cycling, ice hockey, rugby and tennis.

Diagnostic ultrasound from Canon Medical deployed for sports, stroke & ageing projects

The most advanced research centre in the world for developing innovations that will increase physical activity and improve population health has been officially opened by Sheffield Hallam University. The new multi-million pound Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) is supported by several strategic partners including Canon Medical Systems to provide cutting-edge equipment and technology, expertise in the health sector, and research and development opportunities.

The AWRC has been supported by £14m of funding from the Department of Health and Social Care and a £905k investment from the European Regional Development Fund. It is located in the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and has a mission to prevent and treat chronic disease through co-designed research into physical activity. It was officially opened by the Active Travel Commissioner for Sheffield City Region and Britain’s most successful Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey.

Canon Medical is providing a diagnostic ultrasound system to the AWRC to help gain an insight into health and wellbeing issues ranging from performance management of elite athletes to the rehabilitation of stoke patients and the health of older people. For example, the Canon Medical ultrasound system is being used to explore the effectiveness of power assisted exercises in the rehabilitation of stroke patients that can improve muscle mass and strength.

Professor Robert Copeland, Director of the AWRC, states, “Our mission is to prevent and treat chronic disease through world-class research into physical activity. This will mean re-engineering movement back into our lives which requires a radical re-think in the way we live, work, manage and monitor our health, and travel around our towns and cities. This mission can’t be achieved by a single agency or discipline, and the opening of the AWRC marks the start of an exciting collaborative journey. By bringing together academic expertise from across Sheffield Hallam University within this world-class facility, and creating meaningful partnerships with industry, local communities, local authorities and the health and technology sector, we will address the social, behavioural and economic determinants of health, creating equitable and active communities for all.”

 Mark Hitchman, Managing Director at Canon Medical Systems UK states, “We are inspired by the research and innovation work underway at AWRC. Using our diagnostic ultrasound systems the teams are able to push the boundaries of what we currently know about the human body and find new ways to help prevent sports injuries, rehabilitate people with chronic illness and make us all fighting fit as our bodies age.”

Dr Tom Maden-Wilkinson, Lecturer, Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University states, “The projects will help us understand a range of issues related to muscle strength – from strength training in older adults to help maintain their independence, to elite athletes and efficiency or injury prevention. The Canon Medical ultrasound is providing us with technology to take huge strides in examining the relationship between muscles, exercise and recovery.”

Other AWRC strategic collaborations include Westfield Health, EXOS, the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine in Sheffield, Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, Ingesport and parkrun.

Photo caption: Left to right: Ian Watson, Director of Commercial Solutions Canon Medical Systems UK, Mark Holmshaw, President & CEO of Canon Medical Systems Europe; and Mark Hitchman, Managing Director of Canon Medical Systems UK attending the opening of the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) as strategic partners.

Aquilion Prime SP CT to support complex and routine clinical procedures

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust has installed a new Aquilion Prime SP CT from Canon Medical. A new scanning room optimised for the system has been created from a relocated angio-suite. In addition, an extensive range of applications have been included with the scanner to boost its versatility across a wide range of complex to routine clinical procedures in neuro, cardiac, ortho, oncology, CT guided intervention and general work.

The Aquilion Prime SP CT is designed to keep pace with demanding work lists and deliver high-quality images at the lowest possible dose for every patient. Using the application AIDR 3D, the scanner delivers enhanced iterative reconstruction to ensure excellent image detail with significant dose savings for all patients. SEMAR (Single Energy Metal Artifact Reduction) is also included and uses a sophisticated reconstruction technique to deliver clearer image quality during scanning. It removes artifacts caused by metal to improve visualisation of the implant, supporting bone and adjacent soft tissue for clearer and more confident image review.

“The SEMAR application is really helpful when imaging patients with metal implants. We do lots of spinal and orthopaedic imaging, especially on scoliosis patients, so having clear images without distortion is much better. We’re also increasingly seeing patients with hip and knee replacements so prior to the installation we would have struggled to gain clinically confident images when doing general cancer work – now we can get a much clearer view of the lower pelvis and bladder area,” states Angela Abbott, CT Lead Radiographer at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.

“The new Aquilion Prime SP CT has made our working life much easier. We used to be split over three departments but are now reconfigured to two within the same area. This means that should there be any downtime or we’re behind on our lists, we can move to another scanner with less disruption to patients. We also have a new recovery room attached to the CT suite which means we can recover our own biopsy patients without taking up a valuable hospital bed elsewhere,” Angela Abbott continues. “We’re looking to start cardiac CT scanning soon and the versatility of the scanner will give patients a much closer to home service, rather than being sent elsewhere for procedures.”

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is rated as ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission and is part of The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group. The new Aquilion Prime SP is the seventh CT system from Canon Medical to be selected and deployed at the Group serving Greater Manchester and the North West.

“It has been exciting to see the transformation of the old angiography room into a state-of-the-art CT imaging suite at Salford Royal Hospital,” states Colin Murray, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems UK. “The hospital’s CT team is excited about the new possibilities for the patients and we’ll continue supporting with application knowledge and service requirements.”

Photo caption:

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, part of The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, has installed an Aquilion Prime SP CT from Canon Medical Systems UK.  (L to R): Caroline Roberts, Radiographer; Linda Mason, Advanced Practitioner CT Radiographer; Colin Murray, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems UK; Arianne Carruth, Advanced Practitioner CT Radiographer; James King, Project Manager; and Angela Abbott, CT Lead Radiographer.

New CT scanner from Canon Medical Systems UK improves workflow & efficiency

CT imaging services in the Emergency Department (ED) at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has taken a big step forward in modernisation with the installation of an Aquilion ONE GENESIS Edition CT scanner from Canon Medical. Routine and specialist patient CT procedures will be quicker, at low dose and provide excellent image quality due to the functionality and unique features of the scanner.

The capabilities of the Aquilion ONE GENESIS Edition have assisted the Trust to meet increasing workload challenges. Improvements in speed, efficiency and workflow are made possible with ‘Ultra Helical’, which captures a routine body scan in less than five seconds producing high-quality, lower dose images for faster diagnosis and treatment planning that are ideal for trauma-based examinations.

Additional operational features include: ‘Area Finder’ which allows field of view and scan range to be set at the gantry with volumetric imaging without the need for a scanogram, for speed and reduced radiation dose; ‘Variable Helical Parameters’ allow prescribed and optimised image quality in each body region, scanning in a single helical acquisition, used for trauma cases and also oncology and TAVI planning; plus ‘Tech Assist Lateral Slide’, Canon Medical’s unique lateral couch movement, beneficial for all patients, but invaluable for positioning trauma patients with speed and accuracy and for improving manual handling for the Radiographers.

“The Aquilion ONE GENESIS Edition replaces an end of life head CT scanner and is an impressive step up in our clinical functionality in the Emergency Department. We now have advanced front-line CT scanning resources in the ED, removing the time delay factors of transferring patients to our main CT department,” states Elizabeth Van Lingen, CT Superintendent at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. “We feel confident that we have the department to meet increasing workload challenges and support emerging clinical guidelines in cardiac and stroke. The Aquilion ONE GENESIS Edition CT has exceeded our expectations with its unique features and continued support from Canon Medical Systems UK. We feel clinically and operationally ready for the 2020s!”

“Fast, low dose and excellent image quality are the key factors when reshaping the resilience of frontline CT imaging,” states Megan Newberry, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems UK. “We are delighted that the Aquilion ONE GENESIS was selected to meet the Trust’s needs and the Canon Medical team look forward to providing continued support in Radiology, expanding into the ED.”

Photo caption:

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust selects Aquilion ONE GENESIS Edition CT from Canon Medical Systems UK. (L to R): Yvonne Roberts, Senior Radiographer; Emma Spouse, Imaging Lead; Elizabeth Van Lingen, CT Superintendent; Graham Martin, CT Applications Specialist at Canon Medical Systems UK; Megan Newberry, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems UK; Karen Trebilcock, Senior Radiographer; Dr Andrew Edwards, Consultant Radiologist; Dr Madeline Strugnell, Consultant Radiologist; Florence Weatherly, Senior Radiographer; and Kate Shields, CEO.

– Static & mobile units put through testing to ensure clinical efficacy & patient comfort –

Crawley, United Kingdom, A thorough testing and validation process by Canon Medical has been undertaken to give confidence and certification to customers purchasing static or mobile Lamboo Mobile Medical imaging units featuring Aquilion Prime SP CT systems.

A number of lab and ‘on-the-road’ examinations put the Lamboo units through their paces with  Canon Medical’s CT on board. Vibration, deflection, gantry balance testing plus support legs, base plate and bracket assessments formed part of the robust validation. A detailed site planning manual was also developed to assure customers of the best value and specification requirements for successful return on their mobile imaging investment.

“The rigorous testing and accreditation process with Canon Medical’s Aquilion Prime SP CT is the first we’ve undertaken in Europe and will provide a blueprint for further CT systems to be verified in the future,” states Joost Jr Lamboo, Director at Lamboo Mobile Medical, an independent manufacturer of mobile medical solutions. “Knowing that medical imaging modalities have been tested thoroughly in-situ on our trailers means that our customers are assured of clinical confidence, even with high speed rotation, and that their patients experience the ultimate comfort during examinations.”

“Putting our CT imaging systems through their paces on board a mobile imaging unit is testimony to our quest for ultimate customer satisfaction,” states Alistair Howseman, Sales Director at Canon Medical Systems UK. “Mobile units are different to a fixed hospital or clinic location installation as there can be fluctuation in floor or structure movements when the equipment is in use. Ensuring that every element of the vibration, fixing mechanisms and balance is tested is vital to ensure that our customers have total confidence in the units they are buying to achieve clinical and operational goals.”

InHealth, the UK’s largest specialist provider of diagnostic and healthcare solutions to the NHS and independent sector is the first customer to procure a number of Lamboo Mobile Medical trailers featuring approved Canon Medical’s Aquilion Prime SP CT systems.

Graham Ogden, Director of Operations at InHealth states, “InHealth was delighted to work so closely with Canon Medical and Lamboo to facilitate the accreditation process and to become the first diagnostic service provider to purchase these approved systems. Knowing that the Lamboo mobile units are built to an approved and consistent standard for our choice of Canon Medical’s CT systems provides total peace of mind. We are assured that our staff and patients will experience the highest standard of imaging, through the delivery of swift, comfortable and accurate scans; thereby ultimately improving the patient care pathway to facilitate early diagnosis or treatment planning.”

“Validation and accreditation of Canon Medical’s modality imaging devices on Lamboo Mobile Medical imaging units also includes certified refurbished CT systems from the Secondlife™ refurbishment program,” states Johan Vochteloo, Senior Manager Secondlife at Canon Medical Systems Europe. “This means that reliable pre-owned systems with advanced technology are also available as static or mobile imaging units, assuring that every budget level of our customers have been considered.”

Photo caption: A thorough testing and validation process by Canon Medical has been undertaken to give confidence and certification to customers purchasing static or mobile Lamboo Mobile Medical imaging units featuring Aquilion Prime SP CT systems.