Upright MRI

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apartipilo

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Anyone try this upright MRI? . They're popping up around the country now. Supposedly, imaging patients in an upright weight-bearing position can demonstrate pathology that would not be visible or would be underestimated in a conventional MRI where the patient is lying down. Many of us suffer the back pain when we're weight-bearing, either sitting or standing; it makes more sense to me to image the back in your painful position where you're more likely to see the problem. I'm sure things get missed in a lying-down MRI when you have no pain or little pain. If anyone knows of places that have this new technology, please share. Include the roundabout price, if you know.
 
Hi, yes, there is an MRI place by me that is doing the uprights (both standing and sitting) that ive recently seen advertised locally. The place I know about is in Toms River, NJ. I've never had one, but I agree with you. Especially with spine issues, the spine has so much more compression when sitting or standing than it does laying down. And you wonder why so many people get reports back stating whatever it is isnt enough to be causing pain, blah blah. Or it doesnt see much of anything. and for many people, its standing/sitting that makes their pain worse. Ya know, maybe the insurance companies don't want these types of MRI's b/c maybe it will see alot more problems, which means more treatments, and more money shelled out, etc. I have no idea how much it might cost, though. I know regular MRI's I've had ranged in cost from just under $1000 to about $1500 each, depeding on body part and if I had contrast. I don't think the new ones would cost that much more.
 
Hi, I've had both the tube-type and the sitting MRI for lurabar imaging. The sitting I found much more comfortable and, of course, there was no issue with claustrophobia. What I didn't know until after was that the magnet strengths and thus the definition of the images were vastly different. The tube machine had a Tesla 3 magnet strength and the sitting machine had a Tesla .6 magnet strength. This makes a huge difference in how the films look. Almost like a picture taken by a good camera vs. a cheap one. This was not explained to me beforehand and I found out by calling the radiology tech afterward. The films, even with my untrained eye, looked vastly different. I would have never had the sitting one if I had known. I had a mystery condition that is so much easier to see on a high-magnet strength machine. I was diagnosed with adhesive arachnoiditis. Hope this helps, Ernie Nilsen:)
 
Ahh,, I would have had no idea that the magnets are weaker and the films would be of a lesser quality. I guess there's always a trade off with everything. Oh well. THanks for sharing that information, though.
 
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