1.5 Telsa versus 3.0 Telsa MRI

Over the past few years in an effort to find a source that is causing my constant headache since I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out I have had some MRI’s done. I became aware earlier this year that the MRI’s had done of my brain before were all on 1.5 Telsa machines. These means that the quality and resolution of the image is not as good. When I learned that there were better scanners that produced images with more quality and resolution, I wanted to have an MRI done on one of these machines.

There are actually even better MRI scanners out there up to 11 Telsa. These are currently only used on animals. The FDA has approved human use up to 7.0 Telsa, but clinically you will not find one over 3.0 Telsa.

Part of the reason for this is the economics. MRI equipment is expensive. New 1.5 tesla scanners often cost between $1,000,000 USD and $1,500,000 USD. New 3.0 tesla scanners often cost between $2,000,000 and $2,300,000 USD.

The 3.0 Telsa MRI that I had done did produce better images. I compared the images against the older 1.5 Telsa technology and there was a noticeable improvement. The only downside is that the MRI scanner for 3.0 Telsa felt like it was a bit louder and noisier. Ear plugs are beneficial.

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