MRI

Quality Magnets Equal Quality Images

Willis-Knighton offers seven high-field MRI units in its hospitals and outpatient centers, making them convenient to all residents of Shreveport, Bossier City, and surrounding areas.

Open MRI

In the past, open air MRI focused on comfort, but the quality of the image was sacrificed. Willis-Knighton offers two open bore 1.5 Tesla magnets. The Siemens Magnetom Espree MRI at WK Bossier Health Center offers a high quality image while giving patients the comfort of a wide opening. With the Magnetom Espree, 60% of examinations can be performed with the patient’s head and neck outside of the magnet. The Siemens Magnetom Aera MRI at WK Pierremont Health Center is a 48-channel system allowing superb image quality with a wide range of specialty applications. These two systems are an excellent option for patients of all ages, sizes, and physical conditions.

Willis-Knighton is the only imaging center in North Louisiana to provide a high-field open 1.0 Tesla MRI machine. Located at Portico Imaging and Technology Center, the 1.0T Panorama open MRI gives the patient a 360° panoramic viewing angle, ambient lighting, and a spacious 5-foot wide aperture to provide the utmost in comfort as well as quality. The wide open design helps to eliminate anxiety in even the most claustrophobic or anxious patient.

Breast MRI

Breast MRI is available in both the hospital and outpatient setting. This service is provided on the Open Bore MRI systems at WK Bossier Health Center as well as WK Pierremont Health Center.

Pediatric Imaging

Pediatric MRI protocols are available at all six Willis-Knighton imaging facilities. If the examination requires the pediatric patient to be sedated, these imaging procedures are provided at Willis-Knighton South.

Digital 3 Tesla Strength MR

Philips Ingenia 3.0 Tesla, the first ever digital MRI machine, provides advanced technology for superior clinical results, optimal image quality, and increased exam speed. The higher the magnet strength, the better the image quality will be.

The largest bore size available, the Ingenia 3.0T has a more open field and provides faster and easier positioning for patients, resulting in improved patient comfort and satisfaction. The flexible, lightweight conforming coils provide excellent imaging for a wide variety of patients of all ages, sizes, and physical conditions.

The Ingenia provides enhanced general purpose diagnostic imaging with neck-to-toe coverage, as well as specialty scanning such as spectroscopy, tractography, and perfusion scans. The new technological advancements of the 3.0 T Ingenia provide for optimal neurological and musculoskeletal imaging. In addition, we will be able to enter the realm of functional MR imaging. Functional MRI (fMRI) is an MRI procedure that measures brain activity. Physicians use MRI to assess how risky brain surgery or similar invasive treatment is for a patient and to learn how a normal, diseased, or injured brain is functioning. They map the brain with fMRI to identify regions linked to critical functions such as speaking, moving, sensing, or planning. This is useful to plan for surgery and radiation therapy of the brain. Clinicians also use fMRI to anatomically map the brain and detect the effects of tumors, stroke, head and brain injury, or diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The increased image clarity revealed by the 3.0T is particularly beneficial for diagnosing sports injuries, multiple sclerosis, and conditions involving small body parts such as the pituitary, orbits, or inner ear.