with refurbished coils.

The VP of MPX Sales & Service LLC, Richard Dishman, says that his company in Whitmore Lake, MI, typically offers coils for exchange sale, and does not do repairs. Dishman believes that this helps hospitals save time and money. "Often times hospitals will buy an coil from us to use as a backup in case of problems with an existing 'in use' coil," says Dishman. "If a coil has to be sent out for repair, and there isn't one available to take its place, valuable time and money is lost." MPX carries GE Medical 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla coils, and serves both the domestic and international markets.

Marshall Shannon, director, Image Technology, DeSoto, TX, believes that prices of refurbished coils are usually 50 to 70 percent lower than the OEM price for a new coil. He says that coil repair often involves having a source of internal components and test equipment that can facilitate repair. "It also involves having additional cases or case parts to be able to repair cosmetic damage or handling equipment associated with the coils. Having an MR test bay allows us to check our repaired coils to insure quality prior to returning them to the customer," states Shannon. He believes one of best third party coil manufacturers is MEDRAD. "They make several coils for the OEMs under their name or under the OEM name that are excellent, high performance coils."
Dr. Randall Jones has designed, created or supervised the creation of approximately 100 different coils. Dr. Jones states, "There have been many technology changes in MR since its introduction in the 1980s. They include changes in magnet technology, gradient technology and coil technology. Early
MR systems used linear coils. In the 1990s phased array coils were introduced.
Coil technology today has come a long way, with 8, 16 and 32 channel systems. They are designed and optimized for each part of the body." With each technological advance in MR system complexity, demand is created for new anatomically specific coils with more elements, improved performance and better resolution.

Dr. Jones sums up coil repair by saying, "The challenge to those doing the refurbishing is the extremely broad variation in coil design, electronic system interface, parts and schematic availability. The underlying problem of refurbished coils is the buyer's view of their long-term durability. Many buyers simply will not take the 'chance' on refurbished equipment even at bargain prices, as they avoid the actual or perceived service and reliability issues as compared to those of new coils. It could be argued that the track record of newly manufactured coils may not be appreciably higher than those of refurbished

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