YUMC is Being Reborn as a Leader in the Molecular Imaging Age
[Jul 23, 2012]

 The YU Medical Center(YUMC) is being reborn as a medical institute leading the molecular imaging age. It completed the installation of the 'Biograph mMR' (also known as single-unit PET-MR), which is a world-class cancer diagnosis device, for the first time in Korea and began its operation from the 23rd. For this, the PET-MR opening ceremony was held at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at 9am on July 25.

 The Biograph mMR is the world's first single-unit molecular magnetic resonance imaging system that was successfully developed by combining MR(Magnetic Resonance) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) devices by Siemens Health Care to acquire data on full-body scans simultaneously. It is said to be an advanced device that will open new doors in the imaging diagnosis sector because of its 3T-class hybrid system that boasts high resolution. After being introduced in 2010, only about 20 of these machines were distributed throughout the world, including the US Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Brigham. This cutting-edge imaging medical instrument was first introduced in Korea by the YU Medical Center, and YU is armed with the world-class cancer diagnosis facilities.

 The Biograph mMR can cut the time needed for full-body scans that required more than an hour when filming separately with MRs and PETs into half, allowing patients to complete examinations more simply and in less amount of time. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the device's advantage that it does not emit ionizing radiation, it can be safely used to examine cancer patients who regularly take PETCT scans, without concerns over radiation. In addition, doctors can also minimize concerns on margins of errors caused by movements of patients and patients' organs to acquire accurate inspection results, in order to use it for not only general examinations, but also on diagnosis tumors as well as heart and nervous system diseases.

 Ha, Jung-ok, director of the YU Medical Center, stated, "By introducing Korea's first single-unit PET-MR, the YU Medical Center is now equipped with advanced medical examination equipment not only in terms of Korea, but worldwide." He also added, "It will not only provide early diagnosis of diseases and observation of its progress, but also customized treatment for individual patients based on these, and it is also expected to be useful in helping cancer patients by lowering the radiation quantity emitted from the system."