Clemson University partnered with Prisma Health to purchase a new 3-tesla functional MRI machine to conduct research and treat patients at Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital. (Provided by Clemson University)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina colleges continue their efforts to improve the detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in the state – this time with a new, powerful MRI machine in rural Oconee County.
The Alzheimer’s Association predicts by next year some 120,000 South Carolinians will be living with Alzheimer’s disease or some other type of dementia.
To help, Clemson University partnered with Prisma Health to purchase a new 3-tesla functional MRI machine to conduct research and treat patients at Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca, in the state’s northwestern corner.
Tesla is a scientific term for the strength of the magnet used to produce scans of the brain. The larger the magnet, the more detailed the scans.
By comparison, most hospital MRI machines are just 1.5-tesla.