Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI, is a non-invasive procedure that uses magnets and radio waves to construct pictures of the body. A powerful magnet generates a magnetic field roughly 10,000 times stronger than the natural background magnetism from the earth. A very small percentage of hydrogen atoms within a human body will align with this field.

When focused radio waves are broadcast towards the aligned hydrogen atoms in tissues of interest, they return a signal. The subtle differences in that signal from surrounding body tissues enable MRI to create an imaging plane of organs and other internal body parts. These planes, or slices, can be combined to form a picture of the knee, elbow, spine or any part of the body that is of interest to the physician.

MRI is performed easily through clothing and bones; however certain types of metal can cause significant errors, called artifacts, in the reconstructed images. This is why you cannot bring metal objects into the examining room and people with pacemakers cannot be scanned using MRI.

Upright MRI

FONAR has developed the world’s only Upright Open MRI and Best Open MRI has the only Upright Open MRI in Highlands County. There are two key improvements with the Upright MRI over the Lie-Down MRI:

1. Patients can be scanned in any position including standing and sitting. This allows weight bearing scans that can provide a more accurate picture of the spine and joints. These images can reveal problems missed by a lie-down MRI.

2. Claustrophobia is eliminated. A patient can walk directly into the machine and there is nothing hanging over the patient’s head or blocking the view. In fact, we put a 42” plasma screen on the wall in front of you to keep you company.

We debated long and hard over the decision to purchase the FONAR Upright MRI. In addition to the formidable price tag attached to this technology, the machine itself is so large that we had to remove and then rebuild an entire wall of the Center in order to accommodate it.

We believe we made the right decision. Highlands County is starting to grow at a rapid pace; a seemingly inevitable change that has already happened in Counties closer to either coast. This anticipated growth, combined with our commitment to the County’s established long term and seasonal residents who want the highest quality imaging services without having to travel to bigger centers, convinced us to continue to improve our service.

We believe our residents deserve the best an imaging center can offer.