Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital unveils new cardiac MRI system

PHOENIX — Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital unveiled its state-of-the-art advanced cardiac MRI system on Friday.

The system is used for diagnosing advanced or complex heart conditions and looking at the heart’s blood vessels, blood flows and measuring heart functions.

The new machine was taken to the facility near 19th Street and Thomas Road and features a magnet that weighs around 10,500 pounds and measures 7 feet by 7 feet. Its pull is 30,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic pull.

The specialized software that gives high-quality 2D and 3D images is what separates this machine from other MRI machines.

“I just had a patient with heart failure believed to be due to her breast cancer chemotherapy,” Dr. Nickalaus Gramze said in a press release.

“It turns out she had a significant heart attack previously that she was unaware of. With this information, we can modify her treatment in an attempt to prevent future heart attacks. The reverse could be true for a different patient.”

Another example of its use is that stress tests can be performed in live time, watching contrasted blood flow entering the heart.

The machine is able to identify normal muscle from scar tissue, observe normal and abnormal blood flow within the heart, measure blood flow across the heart valves and in arteries, identify tumors and masses and create 3D models to help understand each individual’s unique anatomy and physiology, Dr. Gramze said in the release.

Abrazo Health also offers online heart assessments for those in need.