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New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release: Ville Marie
Medical Centre Acquires First Dedicated Breast MRI Unit in Canada
Women to Benefit from Exceptionally Effective
Tool for Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis
Montreal, Quebec, September 22: The Ville
Marie Medical and Women's Health Centre has acquired Canada's first dedicated
breast magnetic resonance imager with biopsy capability, a device that will make
it easier for the Centre's specialists to detect and diagnose breast cancer.
A giant crane hoisted the 5,454-kilogram (12,000-pound) MRI unit to the ninth
floor of the Medical Centre building at 1538 Sherbrooke Street West today. It
will be the only magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit in Canada to be coupled
to a Sentinel table. The latter is an innovative product developed in Toronto
that merges MRI with ultrasound to provide biopsy capability.
"Today is a great day for our clinic and a great day for all women, and it comes
just as we are preparing to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month," said Dr.
Nathalie Duchesne, an internationally renowned radiologist specializing in
breast care and Director of the Ville Marie Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre.
The pair of new devices will enhance the sensitivity of examinations performed
at the clinic, Dr. Duchesne explained, adding: "They will be of enormous help to
our investigations into diseases of the breast. The new Siemens MRI will also
mean shorter exam times, and it offers a more comfortable experience for
patients: it's roomier, so a patient who tends to be claustrophobic will be much
more at ease."
Designed in Toronto, the Sentinel table in gaining in popularity because of its
excellent spatial resolution and superior contrast. Used in conjunction with MRI,
it provides enhanced breast imagery that allows radiologists to more rapidly
detect smaller tumours.
With the new equipment installed, the Ville Marie Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Centre becomes an international centre of excellence affiliated with Germany's
Siemens, maker of the new MRI unit, Canadian manufacturer Sentinel, and the
U.S.-based firm SenoRx, which contributed the biopsy tool. As a result,
radiologists from around the world will come to Montreal to attend training and
knowledge-upgrading sessions.
"The purchase of this new equipment is in keeping with the mission of our
interdisciplinary team here at Ville Marie, which is to access the very best
tools for breast cancer detection among those available," Dr. Duchesne
concluded.
The Ville Marie clinic's interdisciplinary breast-care team is made up of
committed radiologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, oncologists and breast
physicians.
Three years ago, the Centre du sein multidisciplinaire Ville Marie and Ville
Marie Radiology Centre set up Canada's first digital mammography unit with
computer-assisted detection. They now own two such units and are leading
facilities in the field of breast care.
The Ville Marie Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre is part of the Ville Marie
Medical and Women's Health Centre, whose mission is to provide patients with
efficient access to the full range of its specialized multi- and
interdisciplinary expertise, with the primary objective of improving breast
cancer detection.
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