WORKERS knocked a hole in the wall at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre to install a £1.5m Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner, which will ensure patients benefit from high-speed diagnostic treatment.

MRI scanners use magnets and radio waves to produce crystal clear cross-sections of the body. They are also safer than normal X-rays.

The six-tonne Philips Achieva scanner works at twice the magnetic strength of a standard machine.

It was gently rolled around the Headington-based hospital's Windmill Road perimeter to where a section of outside wall had been "unbricked" to leave a 1.9-metre opening in the radiology department.

The scanner was then installed in a specially prepared room lined with steel plate sheeting to lock in the magnetic field, and copper sheeting to protect from external radio signals.

The Achieva scanner has a magnetic strength of three Teslas - units of magnetic measurement - compared to the 1.5 Tesla equipment it has replaced.

This means it can produce higher quality images of different body parts at a much higher speed - a major advantage, because it allows patients to be scanned quickly and reduces the chances that they will move, which badly affects the images.

Consultant radiologist Dr Simon Ostlere explained: "It's important to be able to scan quickly as some of our patients may be in pain and find it difficult to lie still for long periods.

"This new, high performance scanner will improve the experience by reducing the time they spend in the scanner. It will provide us with much clearer and more detailed sectional pictures of the body, helping us to identify any abnormalities more quickly."

The NOC leads the field in MRI technology - it has one of the first open scanners.

Instead of patients being confined inside a tube during their tests, the open machine allows them to lie freely on a couch.

Dr Ostlere said: "We're investing in leading MRI technology which will keep us at the forefront of musculoskeletal diagnostic imaging.

"The new 3.0 Tesla scanner will support the radiology team in providing speedy and early diagnosis and help us to improve service delivery and the patient experience."