June 30, 2006
HVRA Opens New MRI Center Using the Most Advanced MRI Technology in Western Connecticut

HVRA is the First Private Facility in Connecticut to Use Siemens' New MAGNETOM Avanto, and Will Utilize NYU Medical Center Expertise for Advanced Neuro MRI Studies

Housatonic Valley Radiological Associates (HVRA) has opened a new 1,800 square foot MRI center at its Danbury location with Siemens' MAGNETOM Avanto, the newest 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with Tim™ technology. HVRA's new MRI facility was commemorated in June 2006 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mark D. Boughton, mayor of Danbury.

In addition, HVRA will work closely with New York University Medical Center's neuroradiologists on advanced neurological MRI studies.

Connecticut governor Jody Rell said, "On behalf of the State of Connecticut, I take pleasure in congratulating Housatonic Valley Radiological Associates on the occasion of its ribbon cutting ceremony of the new MRI suite. For many years, HVRA has served the State of Connecticut with distinction. The staff at HVRA has made significant contributions to healthcare in Connecticut and our state is proud to be the home of such a vital part of our community. I commend the staff at HVRA for their hard work and dedication to service."

"Siemens is continually working to provide the gold standard in imaging to all practitioners, from independent imaging centers to national medical facilities, and we are pleased that HVRA has become the first private facility in Connecticut to use the most advanced MRI technology available today," said Nancy Gillen, vice president of the MR division of Siemens Medical Solutions.

Dr. Jeffrey Stein, director of MRI services at HVRA, said: "We're excited to bring cutting edge MRI technology to the Danbury community. There is no limit to the potential the Avanto has in diagnosing disease. This technology truly brings MRI into the 21st century with revolutionary image quality and patient comfort. With the support of the NYU neuroradiologists, who are among the best in the world and the first to work extensively with the Avanto system, we will be providing university-class expertise."

Adding to patient comfort, the Avanto features a low-to-the-floor design making it accessible for more patients, including obese individuals up to 400 pounds. For claustrophobic patients, its more open short bore feet-first design and faster scanning provides a significantly more comfortable experience. For the first time, it is possible to perform a whole-body scan quickly from head to toe as a single examination. Conventional MR systems were only able to scan individual areas of the body.

Dr. Conrad Ehrlich, medical director at HVRA, said, "The decision to introduce this new highly advanced MRI technology, along with a new multi-detector CT scanner and a new PACS system, is a key part of our drive to deliver the highest quality service to our patients and referring physicians in a private personalized outpatient setting. Patients will enjoy a 97% noise reduction, a claustrophobic friendly feet-first short bore more open design, faster scanning times and new diagnostic capabilities. Most claustrophobic patients will no longer have to travel out of the community and settle for lower quality exams performed on so-called ‘open' MRIs and small extremity units."

Dr Ehrlich added, "We will be able to offer whole spine imaging, white matter fiber tracking, whole body imaging for the evaluation of metastatic disease, MR angiography of the entire body if necessary, and breast MRI with computer guided biopsy capabilities. Neurologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, oncologists, breast surgeons and vascular surgeons will greatly appreciate the Avanto's new capabilities and superior image quality. In fact, all physicians and patients will love the Avanto."

About Siemens' MAGNETOM Avanto with Tim Technology
The MAGNETOM Avanto offers seamless metastasis evaluation, whole CNS imaging and visualization of vascular diseases. It also features Siemens' unique iPAT (integrated Parallel Acquisition Technique) that provides fast image acquisition with parallel imaging in all dimensions, including head to toe, front to back, and side to side. Phoenix software allows clinicians to transfer image protocol parameters from a CD, making it possible to initiate a scan directly from the image. The MAGNETOM Avanto is the first Siemens MR system to fully incorporate Total Imaging Matrix, or Tim, the first whole body surface coil concept and RF technology. Opening the door to advanced clinical applications, Tim allows the user to select exams, not coils, and provides the highest acquisition speed without image artifacts or restrictions in anatomical coverage.

Siemens Tim technology is the first seamless, whole body surface coil design that combines up to 76 seamlessly integrated coil elements with up to 32 independent radio frequency channels, opening the door to the most advanced clinical applications available today. Tim technology enables flexible coil combinations to encompass local high resolution imaging to large anatomical coverage up to 205 cm (6'9"). Other systems require the radiologist to change coils and reposition the patient three times for a whole-body MRI procedure. Tim also enables the use of integrated Parallel Acquisition Techniques (iPAT), such as syngo® SENSE and syngo GRAPPA, in all body regions, reducing examination times. As a result, image quality is increased by up to 100 percent signal-to-noise ratio and acquisition times are shortened.