Local business leaders and community members had a chance to preview Nash County's only open MRI, at a recent Business After Hours with the Rock Mount Area Chamber of Commerce. The event was held at the open MRI's new, freestanding building beside Boice-Willis Clinic on Winstead Avenue. Attendees were able to take a tour of the Winsted Avenue facility and ask questions about the open MRI.

MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. This type of scan provides detailed images of body tissues. Unlike CT scans and X-rays, MRIs use powerful magnets instead of radiation to obtain images. The open MRI, a MAGNETOM Espree, is wider than a ‘traditional' MRI, giving patients more room. Depending upon the area that needs to be examined, patients may be able to be scanned with their head and feet outside the MRI. In addition, the new MRI can accommodate patients weighing up to 550 pounds.
Patients may need an MRI to help doctors diagnose the cause of headaches, pain in the arm, neck or leg, and radiculopathy (diseases affecting nerve roots). MRIs may also be used to evaluate cancers and musculoskeletal injuries.

An open MRI is shorter in length and wider in diameter than a "traditional" MRI. This means that patients have more room than they do in a traditional MRI, thus accommodating patients who may be claustrophobic (afraid of enclosed spaces).

Depending upon the affected area, the open MRI allows patients to be scanned with their head and feet outside the circular opening, called the gantry.

The strength of an MRI is measured in Teslas. A Tesla is a unit of measurement indicating magnetic strength. The open MRI has a strength of 1.5 Teslas-the same as MRIs at Wake, Pitt and Wilson. The magnetic field produced by an MRI is roughly 10 times greater than the earth's magnetic field.
 

Employees at the Nash Open MRI include, Front to back: Carolyn McGee, Courtney Godwin, Cassandra Williams and Ciji Pittman.