Just think where this country would have been, and leading in, if it had listened to us Vietnam Vets, and properly funded the VA on same and the many other issues. On PTS and TBI's, not only as to combat theater veterans but the greater civilian populations! This also being an example of Government working together with private concerns in research and funding, we used to do so well not long ago in many area's.
August 1, 2012 - A room in the basement of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center is undergoing renovations for a new, $8 million magnetic resonance imaging machine, which will join an arsenal of some of the most powerful research scanners in the world.The machine, known as a 7T - "T" standing for tesla, a unit of magnetic field - will offer researchers a more in-depth look than the VA center's current MRIs provide into the details of the brain and the roles biological markers play in developing dementia, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and other cognitive problems.
New, ultra-high resolution MRIs help researchers view details in the brain that they used to be able to see only after a patient died, such as subtle changes in brain structure and function and other abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's disease. The hope is that by seeing such signs earlier, doctors will be able to detect the disease earlier.
The new, 35-ton Siemens MRI machine at the San Francisco VA Medical Center will be one of only about 35 installed systems worldwide. It is expected to arrive at the hospital by the end of the year, and will be tested and tinkered with for another six months before researchers put it to use.
The San Francisco VA already has a 1.5T, two 3Ts - a state-of-art version of which was installed in January - and a 4T that has been involved in studies at the research center since 2004. The higher tesla unit levels correlate with stronger magnetic strength and brighter, more detailed pictures.
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