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Harefield Hospital is known worldwide for its excellence and pioneering work in the diagnosis and treatment of the entire range of adult cardiac and lung diseases. A new state of the art MRI scanner is needed to diagnose and treat our patients, and also as an invaluable tool for research into heart and lung disease. We have currently been performing the MRI scans for our heart and lung patients at another location - this service is, however, limited as some patients are too sick to be transferred for scans.
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We need to have state of the art imaging facilities for diagnosis, treatment and research. Unfortunately Department of Health funding is not available to purchase such high-tech equipment. MRI scanners have been used for more than two decades for the diagnosis of various diseases, mainly of the brain, spine and joints. They have the advantage that they are free from any radiation, and provide detailed images of the body in a way that is different from other imaging techniques. In recent years the use of MRI in diagnosis of diseases of the heart has progressed, and it can now provide beating images of the heart. MRI has been established as a technique of choice to provide the best information and detail about the function of the heart, its blood supply, the viability of heart muscle, and also in determining the underlying cause of heart failure. As Harefield Hospital is a centre where patients with advanced heart failure are referred from the whole of south England, the MRI scanner will be an invaluable tool to obtain this information. After transplantation, patients are routinely surveyed for development of any rejection of the transplanted organs - at the moment, this is done through an invasive biopsy procedure through the groin. Further research will determine if MRI can provide us with information about the transplanted heart in a non-invasive procedure. MRI is also used for patients with lung tumours in certain locations. There is huge potential to explore its use in patients with lung disease, particularly those coming for assessment for transplantation, and also after they have had their transplant. A state of the art MRI scanner will be of enormous benefit to our patients in diagnosis and treatment. It will also allow us to perform research, and make a valuable contribution to the knowledge in this field. The total cost of buying and installing the new scanner, including the necessary building works, is £1.5m.