Chesterfield hospital sees £1.5m MRI scanner craned into place

A state-of-the-art £1.5m MRI scanner has been lifted into a Derbyshire hospital using a giant crane.

Weighing four tonnes, the scanner should help more than 16,000 patients a year at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

The machine uses magnetic fields and radiofrequency pulses to produce detailed 3D images of most areas of the body without the use of radiation.

It is now being hooked up and calibrated and should be operational in time for Christmas, officials said.

The seven-hour operation, requiring a 50-tonne crane, took place on Sunday.

The MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging - scanner is expected to work 12.5 hours a day, seven days a week for the next 10-15 years.

It is typically used to diagnose a variety of pathologies including stroke, tumours, vascular anomalies and many musculo-skeletal problems, hospital bosses said.

Rebecca Ward, MRICT lead at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We're very excited to be bringing in such an advanced piece of equipment into the hospital.

"The new technology will offer far greater quality and speed over our previous scanner.

"We know that it will improve our performance and mean we diagnose more people as well as providing a better experience for patients."

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.