Mercy San Juan Medical Center Opens New $7 Million Advanced Biplane Angiography Suite And Wide Bore 3 Tesla MRI Suite

State-of-the art imaging technology for more complex treatment of stroke to improve outcomes for patients.

Mercy San Juan Medical Center today announced its new $7 million state-of-the-art biplane angiography suite and wide bore 3 Tesla MRI suite, for advanced treatment of stroke and other neurological procedures, are open to patients this week.

"We are very excited about our new biplane suite and 3 Tesla MRI suite and how this advanced technology will help our patients," said Brian Ivie, president of Mercy San Juan Medical Center. "Our interventional neuroradiology team will be able to deliver potentially lifesaving care with unprecedented speed and precision."

The new biplane suite is the latest version of the imaging technology and the first of its kind on the West Coast, used for less invasive performance of complex neurological procedures including stroke, brain aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations. The imaging technology is enhanced and provides larger fields of view of the brain and gives neuroradiologists greater precision for superior accuracy, which is essential to intervention in sensitive neurological procedures. When viewing these images, physicians can thread fine catheters through the blood vessels that lead directly to problem areas of the brain.

Mercy San Juan's new wide-bore 3T MRI provides more room and reduces claustrophobia. Located right next to the biplane angiography suite, the sophisticated technology also provides exceptional anatomic detail and image quality. The imaging scanner generates a magnetic field that is twice the strength of previous 1.5 Tesla machines and 10 to 15 times the strength of open MRI scanners.

"We are advancing therapy and are setting the standard in the community," said George Luh, MD, medical director of interventional neuroradiology at the Mercy Neurological Institute. "Advanced imaging and state-of-the-art technology are key factors in delivering comprehensive stroke services and our team of neuroscience professionals is unmatched."

According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. On average, someone suffers a stroke every 40 seconds and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes. Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term adult disability in the United States with about seven million stroke survivors alive today.

"Our new imaging suite at Mercy San Juan allows the Mercy Neurological Institute to further expand our capabilities in providing great care and optimal outcomes for patients," said Lucian Maidan, MD, medical director of neurovascular medicine for the Mercy Neurological Institute. Dr. Maidan is also an interventional neurologist, trained in stroke interventions and neurovascular procedures whose clinical expertise, subspecialty training and certification in vascular neurology place him in a unique group of clinicians. "It's exciting to work with this advanced technology, knowing how much it will help patients suffering from stroke and neurovascular emergencies."

The Mercy Neurological Institute, which includes Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Mercy General Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Methodist Hospital, Woodland Healthcare and Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, operates six primary stroke centers in the region. A team of specially trained nurses, technologists and staff work together with neurologists, neurosurgeons, interventional neuroradiologists and interventional neurologists to offer comprehensive stroke care. The biplane angiography suites at both Mercy General Hospital and Mercy San Juan allow for further improvements in care for all patients suffering from stroke emergency and acute brain injury. The Mercy Telehealth Network's telestroke service uses wireless remote robots to connect stroke specialists to stroke patients in the emergency departments of community and rural hospitals in central and northern California.

About Mercy San Juan Medical Center
Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Dignity Health member, is a nationally recognized not-for-profit hospital located in Carmichael, California, serving the areas of north Sacramento County and south Placer County. It is one of the area's largest and most comprehensive medical centers. It is a Level II Trauma Center and has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the region, with more than 68,000 emergency visits a year and more ambulance traffic than any other local hospital. A highly trained team of specialists using the latest technology provides advanced services in cardiology, neuroscience, cancer, orthopedics and robotic surgery. Mercy San Juan's Level III neonatal intensive care unit is ranked among the world's elite in survival outcomes. Mercy San Juan also has the only hospital-based hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) unit in the region.