An unusual delivery at Forth Valley Royal Hospital

There was an unusual delivery at Forth Valley Royal Hospital on Sunday.
Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.
Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.

A new state-of-the-art MRI scanner was carefully craned into position outside the Larbert hospital before being wheeled along a corridor into its new home within the radiology department.

It was a very delicate operation carried out with great care and precision as the £1 million specialist scanner, which weighs five tons, was put in place.

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To enable the scanner to get to its new home, some of the doors in the hospital had to be removed.

Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.
Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.

The machine will now be set up over the next few weeks in a specially refurbished room with a new backlit picture wall and ambient lighting to help patients relax in calming and less clinical surroundings.

MRI scanners are used to take images of all parts of the body including the brain, spinal cord, heart and blood vessels, the liver, womb, prostate gland and gall bladder.

The results can be used to help diagnose conditions, plan treatments and assess how effective previous treatment has been.

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Around 160 patients from across Forth Valley require an MRI scan every week.

Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.
Forth Valley Royal Hospital receives a delivery of a new £1m MRI scanner magnet. Picture: Michael Gillen.

The new scanner replaces an older scanner currently based within the hospital, and is part of a programme which requires NHS Forth Valley to invest millions of pounds to replace and upgrade medical equipment each year.

MRI scanners normally have to be replaced every seven to ten years.