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Patients will receive more accurate diagnostic tests for a broad range of conditions with the installation of Scotland's most up-to-date MRI scanner at Raigmore Hospital.

The £781,000 machine has been operational since April in the MRI suite which was officially opened yesterday.

The machine, which takes detailed three-dimensional images without radiation, will be used in diagnosing patients with conditions such as cancer or cardiac problems and carrying out orthopaedic examinations.

It is being operated alongside another older MRI scanner which will continue to be used for more routine cases as well as brain scans.

Dr Helen Shannon, head of radiology at Raigmore, said the department scanned an average of 450 patients each month.

"We will now have the capacity to cope with the increasing demand we have had over the last few years so the waiting list will not grow," she said.

"The state-of-the-art technology of the new scanner will improve diagnostic accuracy in many areas from scans of joints and orthopaedic conditions to abdominal diseases to assessment of cancer."

Dr Shannon pointed out some patients, particularly children, would now benefit from MRI scans rather than other scans using potentially harmful radiation while those who previously travelled to other centres such as Aberdeen could undergo diagnostic MRI scans and MRI-guided biopsies at Raigmore.

NHS Highland's chairman, Garry Coutts, who officially opened the new MRI suite, recalled that when the health authority acquired its first MRI scanner in 2002, patients were having to go outside the Highlands for such a facility.

"Now, none of them should leave the Highlands to get a scan," Mr Coutts said.

"But also, patients from other parts of the Highlands and Scotland should be able to come here because we are leading compared to a lot of other centres. This is really cutting-edge stuff."

The new machine, an Achieva 1.5T MRI system, was bought from Philips Healthcare whose UK head office is in Guildford in Surrey. However, support is co-ordinated through its Scottish office in Stirling.

Among the Philips Healthcare staff present at yesterday's ceremony was regional manager Jim Belshaw.

"With advanced capabilities in cardiac, breast and whole body imaging, the Achieva MRI scanner will increase the range of services that NHS Highland can provide for its community," he said.

Source: The Inverness Courier