Siemens Healthcare and the Steadman•Hawkins Research Foundation (SHRF) in Vail, Colo., have formed a strategic alliance that will add 3T MRI technology to the foundation and allow its clinicians and researchers access to advanced sports medical imaging.

“Imaging has become a vital part of sports medicine for diagnosis, treatment, and postoperative evaluation,” said J. Michael Egan, CEO of SHRF. “With this strategic alliance, we look forward to all of the new avenues in imaging research that we can explore.”

“With the strongest magnet field strength used clinically, the Magnetom Verio can be used for many applications, including neurology and functional neuro evaluation, orthopedic and cartilage assessment, breast, vascular, and cardiac imaging,” said Walter Märzendorfer, CEO of MR at Siemens. 

Siemens said its Magnetom Verio is a 3T MRI system with a 70-cm open bore and total imaging matrix technology. Once the Magnetom Verio is installed at the Foundation, the company said that SHRF will use the data collected from it to test new software being developed specifically for orthopedic sports medicine and research being conducted in Vail.

The Magnetom Verio is expected to be installed at the Vail Valley Medical Center in Colo., by the end of the year, Siemens said.