FDA Clears Siemens’ Magnetom Amira MRI Scanner

Siemens Healthcare has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for the Magnetom Amira 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, which features technologies found on Siemens’ flagship MRI systems and is distinguished by its low operating costs.

Boasting new “Eco-Power” technology that enables significant power savings in standby mode, Magnetom Amira is designed to meet the requirements of radiology practices, small and medium-sized hospitals, and larger facilities that are interested in an MRI scanner to complement their existing systems, according to Siemens.

Magnetom Amira is designed to enable customers to operate their MRI systems efficiently, with the potential to shorten many exams and enable patients to undergo scans in routine applications. Siemens offers a package of protocols for Magnetom Amira that is optimized for rapid examinations while maintaining high image quality. Additionally, Magnetom Amira features DotGO – Siemens’ latest generation of MRI examination software – to simplify protocol management and offer the right operating sequence for each individual scan to suit requirements. This software can help users increase exam consistency, reproducibility and efficiency.

To enable high diagnostic reliability and patient comfort, Magnetom Amira is equipped with Siemens’ latest applications and syngo MR E11 software architecture. Hospitals that operate a Magnetom Amira with its 60 cm patient bore alongside other Siemens systems can switch seamlessly between scanners, company executives claim. In addition, they can exchange many coils between all current 1.5T MRI systems, thanks to the company’s exclusive Tim 4G technology. The system’s software platform includes Quiet Suite technology, which minimizes system noise during an MRI examination. With Magnetom Amira, facilities can even perform some measurements inaudibly over background noise, which benefits both clinical staff and patients.

Magnetom Amira is the first Siemens MRI scanner to possess “eco-power” technology, which monitors and controls magnet-cooling helium. Activated during standby mode, eco-power monitors the liquefaction cycle and manages the cooling and helium re-liquefaction process more efficiently, enabling a power saving of up to 30 percent in standby mode. In combination with features such as the “Zero Helium Boil-Off” technology, which prevents helium evaporation, Magnetom Amira can help reduce annual operating costs considerably.

“Siemens is proud to offer the Magnetom Amira 1.5T MR system, which migrates technologies from our top-of-the-line MR systems with an eye toward quality, efficiency and simplicity – all at a readily accessible cost,” said Murat Gungor, vice president of the Magnetic Resonance (MR) Business Line at Siemens Healthcare North America.

Based in Germany, Siemens AG develops medical imaging equipment such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems, laboratory diagnostics, clinical IT, wind turbine technology, power transmission solutions and automation/software solutions for industry. The company employs roughly 362,000 people worldwide.