SpinTech MRI and Yale New Haven Hospital to Examine Impact of STAGE on MRI Brain Exam Times, Backlogs, Workflows and Outcomes in Routine Clinical Use

Collaboration will assess operational and clinical impacts of STAGE through an analysis of neuroimaging efficiency, reporting workflows and clinical outcomes in actual cases

BINGHAM FARMS, MI, Nov. 27, 2023 – SpinTech MRI, creators of the STAGE™ (STrategically Acquired Gradient Echo) quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) software platform, today announced that Yale New Haven Hospital and YNHH Center for Health Care Innovation is conducting an in-depth analysis of the operational and clinical impacts of using STAGE for routine neuroimaging exams.

Conducted in collaboration with SpinTech MRI, the analysis includes a multi-institutional review of patient cases to compare existing MRI processes with those using STAGE for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, stroke, and other neurological conditions. It will examine the impact of STAGE adoption on efficiency, exam duration, image quality, radiology reading and reporting workflows, scanner throughput, imaging backlogs, sedation rates, patient experiences and return on investment.

STAGE post-processing software uses advanced MRI physics to accelerate brain exams by 30% while improving image clarity and grey matter/white matter contrast by reducing image noise and increasing signal-to-noise ratio. The software quickly integrates with existing PACS and 1.5T and 3T scanners and requires no changes to reading and reporting workflows. STAGE also provides practical and intuitive access to quantitative outputs such as QSM and T1 maps for better detection of neurological disease biomarkers.

“MRI post-processing has shown a potential to improve MRI efficiency, reading and reporting, scanner throughput and patient experiences at scale,” said Dr. Melissa A. Davis, MD, MBA, Vice Chair for Imaging Informatics, Radiology & Biomedical Imaging at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the Yale School of Medicine. “The goal of our analysis with STAGE is to calculate the impact of those potential benefits through a review of cases and provide neuroradiologists with objective metrics for confident adoption of these types of tools in routine clinical practice.”

Health systems are seeking to improve MRI efficiency, utilization, image quality and patient comfort in response to surging demand. Testing at a busy U.S. health system in 2022 showed that multi-contrast scans using STAGE averaged 30% faster than conventional protocols. The time savings created 3 to 4 new scanning slots per scanner per day.

“STAGE users report that faster acquisition, improved image clarity and contrast, and straightforward usability of quantitative maps in clinical practice are immediately evident,” said SpinTech MRI President and CEO Karen Holzberger. “But administrators and radiologists already managing heavy demand are understandably cautious about adding tools to existing workflows. Our collaboration with one of the world’s most highly regarded neuroradiology practices is aimed at providing an objective assessment of the benefits of STAGE in everyday clinical neuroimaging.”

About STAGE

STAGE^TM is a post-processing software medical device intended for use in the visualization of the brain. STAGE analyzes input data from MRI systems, utilizing magnitude and phase data acquired with specific parameters to generate enhanced T1 weighted images, susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) images, susceptibility weighted image map (SWIM) images, pseudo-SWIM (pSWIM) images, modified pSWIM (mpSWIM) images, true SWI (tSWI) images, MR angiography (MRA) images, simulated dual-inversion recovery (DIR) images, and maps of T1, R2, and proton density (PD). STAGE generates standardized image data regardless of scanner brand or model for patient monitoring and data-sharing between facilities, and to inform longitudinal and population health studies.