Oregon Health & Science University Receives iMRI Addition

Facilitating revolutionary intraoperative equipment for a revolutionary hospital

Providing a revolutionary MRI experience

The iMRI Suite is the first pediatric intraoperative MRI facility on the West Coast; this modern marvel of medical equipment is unusual to have in a children’s hospital and is a “game changer” according to Dr. Nathan Selden, the Chair of Department of Neurological Surgery. He describes this equipment as holding the promise to have “a very high impact for OHSU adult and pediatric patients.” In summary, the iMRI provides real-time MRI scanning data during operations, reducing patient discomfort and minimizing a surgery cycle to achieve operational excellence in a timely manner.

Installing these technically advanced medical devices required specific attention to existing and other new equipment, including a new surgery air handler, which now back-feeds the existing surgery suite, in addition to an emergency exhaust system, and an oxygen monitoring system to maintain safety in the iMRI suites.  Numerous modifications to existing electrical and hydronic infrastructure were employed to support this new imaging suite. Watch the video below to hear how the new iMRI is a total “game changer”.

Overcoming infrastructure and space constraints

Mazzetti, as MEP Lead, collaborated with the entire project team on the iMRI installation in the operating room. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used extensively to facilitate the integration of the many different equipment pieces and their respective infrastructure tie-ins.

Interestingly, the entire multi-building OHSU hospital expansion was physically being carved into a hillside. This emphasized the need for greater team coordination to communicate potential utility and leveling issues before they became a roadblock to progress.