Inauguration of the MAGNETOM Terra 7 Tesla clinical MRI

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 - 4pm
Centre d'Exploration Métabolique par Résonance Magnétique (CEMEREM) - CRMBM hospital site, Timone University Hospital, Building 3, 264 rue Saint Pierre, 13385 Marseille

At the Timone University Hospital, the CRMBM (Centre for Biological and Medical Magnetic Resonance), a joint research unit of the Aix-Marseille Université / CNRS / AP-HM, hosts and pilots on its hospital site, the CEMEREM (Centre for Metabolic Exploration by Magnetic Resonance), a new "ultra-high-field" MRI imaging facility. The 7 Tesla (7T) MAGNETOM Terra MRI is the first MRI to have obtained a CE mark for clinical use in routine practice on neurological and osteoarticular MRI applications.

This equipment marks a new stage in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by allowing the transition into clinical practice of major technological developments carried out over the last ten years at the CRMBM-CEMEREM with the associated medical and research teams and their national and international collaborators.

The 7T MRI reveals lesions that were previously invisible, and provides new biomarkers of disease and innovative therapeutic targets. Several clinical fields will eventually benefit from this technology: neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, rheumatology, orthopaedic surgery, cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, endocrinology-nutrition, oncology, radiotherapy, etc. With earlier diagnosis and more effective therapeutic follow-up, this precision tool will contribute to changing the management of progressive and degenerative diseases.

"The research we have conducted on the 7T "prototype" installed in 2014 has been extremely rich and stimulating. It has demonstrated the added value of 7T MRI in many indications. It is now time to bring these cutting-edge technologies to patients on a larger scale," says Professor Maxime Guye who is coordinating the project.

This new 7T MRI scanner replaces the previous system as part of an academic and industrial partnership entitled "7TEAMS" (IRM 7 TEsla Aix Marseille -Siemens Healthneers) between Aix-Marseille Université and Siemens Healthineers, coordinated by Professor Maxime Guye. This project follows on and perpetuates the exceptional equipment obtained ten years ago as part of a successful call for tenders for future investment projects with the AP-HM and the CNRS as other partners.

"The AP-HM is proud to welcome this state-of-the-art equipment to the Timone in an exceptional environment that associates our clinical services with academic and industrial research at the highest level with a common goal: improving patient care," said Francois Crémieux, Director General of the AP-HM.

This partnership between the medical community, research and industry provides a unique platform for the exploration of multiple organs at ultra-high resolution in order to examine their structure and function in an unparalleled way.

 

 

 

"Aix-Marseille Université is pleased to welcome this 7T MAGNETOM Terra MRI to the CRMBM, as part of the "7TEAMS" industrial chair involving our university, the AP-HM, the CNRS and Siemens Healthineers. This cutting-edge equipment will be a source of innovation in clinical research and will accompany the creation of a unique training environment in ultra-high field MRI," says Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille Université.

 

 

 

This platform, which is widely open to local, national and international collaborations, as well as to industrial partners, the "7TEAMS" academic-industrial chair will enable the pursuit of cutting-edge research in the field of MRI and the creation of an exceptional training environment on an international scale.

 

 

 

"I am very proud to inaugurate today in Marseille, in clinical use, our 7 Tesla MRI: the MAGNETOM Terra. We have passed the proof-of-concept stage with this MRI and we will apply ourselves to demonstrating the clinical added value of this type of system on the applications considered. Furthermore, our ambition with this installation is to strengthen the international and French network of 7T MRIs," explains Hassan Safer-Tebbi, President of Siemens Healthineers France.

 

 

 

Mandatory health pass. The application of barrier measures remains de rigueur.

 

 

 

*This project has received €3.6 million in funding from the Initiative of Excellence of the A*Midex University Foundation as part of the Industrial Chair scheme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Siemens Healthineers

 

 

 

Siemens Healthineers AG (listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, Germany: SHL) is shaping the healthcare of tomorrow. Headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, the company is a leading player in the medical technology sector. Through its national and regional locations, Siemens Healthineers helps healthcare providers around the world to deliver value-added solutions and supports them in the expansion of precision medicine, the transformation of care pathways, the improvement of the patient experience and the digitalization of healthcare. Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating to expand its portfolio of products and services, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enhanced solutions and a digital offering. These new solutions, which play a leading role in next-generation medical technologies, strengthen the company's position in in vitro diagnostics, image-guided therapies, in vivo diagnostics and cancer treatment. Siemens Healthineers' range of services and solutions also enables healthcare providers to increase the efficiency and quality of their care for the benefit of the patient. Siemens Healthineers generated sales of €14.5 billion in fiscal year 2020, ended September 30, with a profit of €2.2 billion (adjusted EBIT). Following the acquisition of Varian Medical Systems, Inc. the company has a global workforce of approximately 65,000 employees.
For more information, please visit www.siemens-healthineers.com/fr.
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About Aix-Marseille Université

 

 

 

Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) is the largest French-speaking university in France, with 80,000 students and nearly 8,000 staff on five large campuses of international standards. The university owns its own property and is present in 9 major cities in 4 departments.
Its A*Midex University Foundation, which is the bearer of the IDEX, contributes to the development of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary pole of higher education and research of world-class rank. Known as an "intensive research university", it is home to 113 research units, 9 federations and some fifty technological platforms linked to the major national organisations.
AMU is committed to interdisciplinarity, which is at the heart of its strategy and training, and has already created Territorial Innovation Poles (PIT), access for economic players to certified technological platforms, the Aix-Marseille City of Innovation and Knowledge (CISAM) and 18 institutes to ensure links between research and training.
A responsible and committed university, Aix-Marseille Université has made "living together" a priority and is renowned in international rankings for its policy of combating discrimination and, more generally, its CSR policy.
Widely open to the world since its creation (10,000 international students and more than 40 diplomas in international partnership), it is the winner of the European Commission's call for projects to build "CIVIS, a European Civic University" with its 8 European partners, contributing to the major societal challenges, particularly in Africa and the Mediterranean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the AP-HM

 

 

 

With 4 hospital sites: Hôpital Nord, Timone adults and children, La Conception, Hôpitaux Sud, a logistics platform and 12 training institutes, the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM) is the third largest hospital and university centre (CHU) in France and the largest hospital centre in the Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur region (France).
Its missions are care, training, research, prevention and health education. The APHM is also the support establishment for the "Hôpitaux de Provence" GHT, which brings together the 13 public establishments in the Bouches du Rhône department and includes the Laveran Army Training Hospital.
It is also the leading employer in the region, with more than 15,000 professionals, including 8,500 nurses and 2,000 doctors. Its hospitals cover the full range of hospital care: medicine, surgery, obstetrics, psychiatry, follow-up care and rehabilitation, children and adults. They offer medical care ranging from local care to cutting-edge treatments and excellence in rare and complex pathologies. They are developing cutting-edge research, with a constant desire to improve the quality of care for hospitalized patients and their families.
Number of beds and places: 3,200 beds and places
Activity/year: 130,000 admissions, 60,000 operations, 240,000 emergencies, 1,000,000 consultations, 5,600 births, 900,000 emergency calls, 250 transplants
1.4 billion operating budget
Research: 2,000 publications/year, 14,000 patients included in clinical trials (institutional sponsors), 1 IHU Méditerranée Infection, 3 RHU programs and 5 DHU programs, accredited by the National Investment Program. Nearly 2,000 research programs underway.