Cook ChildrenÂ’s will get high-tech iMRI
ThatÂ’s the amount that was announced June 19 as Cook ChildrenÂ’s officially ended its fund-raising efforts to purchase a rare intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging and mapping system. The iMRI allows physicians to get continuous, real-time views of brain anatomy during surgical procedures.
Surgeons use iMRI to monitor and observe anatomical changes. Use of the iMRI equipment and techniques makes surgery safer and more precise and it also reduces the need for follow-up surgeries to remove remnants of abnormal tissues.
However, the technology is rare and expensive. Only a few medical centers nationwide have iMRI, and Cook ChildrenÂ’s will have the only pediatric iMRI in Fort Worth, according to Cook officials.
“Currently, Cook Children’s is the only children’s hospital that will utilize the intraoperative MRI for both surgical and neurodiagnostic capabilities,” said Jennifer Johnson, Cook Children’s director of donor relations and major gifts.
Before the iMRI will be available to patients in early 2007, it will take about a month to install in a new operating room on the second floor. The magnet weighs 12,000 pounds.
The magnetÂ’s delivery should take place in October or November, hospital officials said. It will have to be lifted by crane outside the building, then guided into the hospital. Computer consoles and other medical equipment will be installed after the magnet arrives.
Construction for the project began in late April with the demolition of a catheterization laboratory. Cook ChildrenÂ’s officials said they hope to be able to occupy the space in late December and begin seeing patients soon after. Estimates are nearly 200 children at the hospital will benefit from the iMRI annually.
Linbeck Construction is handling the project.
Cook ChildrenÂ’s is getting the iMRI thanks to singer and songwriter Dan Roberts, and his wife Carol, who spearheaded the fund-raising campaign after their daughter, Austin, now 12, had to travel to California in 2002 for treatment of her brain tumor. Austin, who was first diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2000 at age 6, had previously had surgery at Cook ChildrenÂ’s.
The second time, the tumor reappeared near the parts of the brain that controlled her ability to move, walk and talk, and the California hospital was one of the few to offer the iMRI, which allowed surgeons to differentiate between critical areas of AustinÂ’s brain.
“We had spent so much time at Cook Children’s that it had become like a second home, but we had to go where there was the technology that could help her,” Carol Roberts said. “Cook Children’s is family to us now, and we wanted to make sure that other children could receive their care here at home in North Texas in the future.”
AustinÂ’s surgery was a success.
Later, the family approached Cook ChildrenÂ’s about offering iMRI to patients.
“For our family it was a dream to get this technology,” Carol Roberts said. “We were determined to see this happen and everyone at the hospital happily worked with us to make it a reality.”
That’s where Brooks came in. A friend of the family, he was the “superstar/mystery guest” at Cook Children’s benefit concert Feb. 13, 2005. The concert helped the Robertses’ “Refuse to Lose” campaign raise more than $2 million.
Other donors provided the rest of the money, including AustinÂ’s 9-year-old sister, Maggie, who added the last $3 to the total. The entire campaign raised $4,516,525.
And, while the public portion of the campaign has ended, the total project cost is $10 million. That includes the cost of renovation and construction to install the iMRI. Additional gifts to the campaign will help Cook ChildrenÂ’s build the most comprehensive pediatric neurosciences program in the country, which will treat children with epilepsy, brain tumors and other neurological diseases.
Dan Roberts, for one, is grateful.
“We truly felt that God was writing the story, and we were just getting some help from others with our dream,” he said. “The hearts of the people in this town really showed and they rallied around to help. It’s the hearts of the people of Fort Worth – and Texas in general – that made this happen.”
Contact Patrick at spatrick@bizpress.net.
