MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital celebrated the opening of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Cardiac Catheterization (cath) Lab. This is the second step to opening the larger four-story $95.4 million expansion which will culminate in a grand opening celebration on May 8, 2024.
This suite will allow experts in Le Bonheur’s Heart Institute to have the capability for highly efficient quality imaging to better make diagnoses more quickly.
Le Bonheur’s interventional cardiac MRI suite is the first in the state of Tennessee and is the eighth in the country.
This space will also allow Le Bonheur and University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) personnel to offer their expertise to children’s hospitals around the world through teaching and information sharing. Doctors will have the capability to live stream from the catheterization lab to showcase technique and share their expertise.
“This new hybrid MRI-guided cardiac catheterization lab at Le Bonheur is a game changer for us. We will be able to perform heart catheterizations in the MRI environment that will avoid the harmful effects of radiation for our patients,” said Jason Johnson, MD, Associate Chief of Cardiology and Director of Cardiac MRI at Le Bonheur. “Our partnership and collaboration with national leaders in technology will provide new diagnostic and interventional procedures for children with heart disease in Memphis and the Mid-South.”
Le Bonheur is also completing a Virtual Reality Lab that will allow physicians to virtually build a 3D model of a patient’s heart, determine where to place any needed devices and create a precise plan for procedures and surgeries. Doctors will be able to build a 3D model from the raw data gathered from a patient’s CT scan, MRI or 3D echocardiogram and through virtual reality will be able to step inside a patient’s heart and see the outcome of their procedure before ever touching the patient.
Le Bonheur will be one of only a few pediatric centers in the world using virtual reality to plan heart surgeries and cath lab procedures. Precise planning leads to safer and faster surgeries and procedures for patients at Le Bonheur’s Heart Institute.
About Le Bonheur Children’s
Le Bonheur Children’s, based in Memphis, Tenn., provides expert care for children in more than 45 pediatric subspecialties, encompassing robust community programs, a pediatric research institute and regional outpatient centers in Jackson, Tenn., Tupelo, Miss., and Jonesboro, Ark. Le Bonheur also features a 255-bed hospital in Memphis and a 21-bed satellite hospital within Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tenn. As the primary pediatric teaching affiliate for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Le Bonheur trains more than 350 pediatricians and specialists each year. Nationally recognized, Le Bonheur has been named a U.S. News & World Report Best Children’s Hospital for 13 consecutive years and is a Magnet-designated facility, the ultimate credential for high-quality patient care and nursing excellence.
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