A medical professional looks at an MRI.If your doctor needs a detailed look at your brain, your spinal cord or your heart, you may need magnetic resonance imaging, commonly known as an MRI.

But when an ordinary MRI isn’t good enough, your doctor may send you to Spectrum Health’s Integrated Care Campus where a new machine called the Magnetom® Prisma MRI sees what other scanners cannot.

Last summer, when Spectrum Health built its new integrated care office on the East Beltline in Grand Rapids, the team did its homework before choosing the latest and greatest equipment. This next generation of MRI is the first to be installed in a U.S. hospital.

All MRIs use a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of your brain or other parts of your body. It’s the ideal way to distinguish between healthy and damaged tissue. And it “sees” how well a specific part of your brain, heart, spinal cord, joints or vascular system is working so your doctor can pinpoint problems.

The Magnetom® Prisma MRI, however, takes this technology to the next level. It uses a “3T powerpack” platform, which is the most powerful system available. This better, stronger and faster state-of-the-art imaging equipment shows details that can’t be seen with a traditional MRI.

That’s key, because providing the most accurate diagnosis leads to the most effective treatment.

Spectrum Health has become a preferred destination for innovative, leading-edge imaging diagnosis and therapy, said Mark DeLano, MD, a radiology specialist who was part of the team that researched and selected the technology.

“Now we’re being approached by patients from all over the country interested in coming to Grand Rapids to receive care they can’t get elsewhere,” he said.

Beyond medical care, the Magnetom® Prisma MRI is also used for research by Spectrum Health, Michigan State University and Advanced Radiology Services, one of the nation’s largest radiology services.

The Magnetom® Prisma MRI is located at: