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Golisano Children's Hospital / Ways to Give / Strong Kids Newsletter / 2015 Summer / Integrated PET-MRI is Nation's First
 

Integrated PET-MRI is Nation’s First in a Children’s Hospital

As you make your way through the ground floor of the new Golisano Children’s Hospital, you might spot a pirate ship, sailing the high seas. Down the hall, a lighthouse keeps watch, ensuring that no one runs aground.

PET-MRI machineThe fixtures don’t look out of place — this is the “Lake” floor, after all — but the lighthouse isn’t actually a lighthouse. It’s a computerized tomography (CT) scanner, dressed up by the Dream Think Imagine design group to put children at ease when they need an exam.

And the pirate ship? That’s actually the first integrated PET-MRI machine in a children’s hospital in the United States.

“The PET-MRI has the opportunity to really make advances in oncologic imaging and neurologic imaging for the children we treat here,” said Hans Blickman, M.D., Ph.D., Radiologist-in-Chief at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

PET-MRI stands for positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging, and combines two common imaging procedures into a single scan, reducing the amount of radiation that a child is exposed to and the time needed to perform the exam. A further benefit is vastly improved ‘spatial resolution’ which means more accurate images.

With the space on the ground floor, the Pediatric Radiology Division is now separate from adult imaging for the first time, allowing the team to operate in an environment designed entirely for children.

“We can focus entirely on children,” said Blickman. “We hope the children will feel like they’re on an outing, instead of in a hospital. This is a great way of optimizing children’s imaging care in Rochester.”