Dr. Jordi Catalá March is a radiologist with more than 25 years' experience. He trained in Barcelona and has a master's degree in hospital management and sports-related injuries. He is currently partner and general director of the Guirado Institute, where he previously served as head of the magnetic resonance unit and general manager of teleradiology. He also served as medical director for other companies in the sector.

Early on, he has shown heightened interest in new technologies and their clinical applications. He has extensive experience in multiple facets of radiodiagnosis, such as PACS, post-processing and 3D, 3D printing, maxillofacial, elastography, artificial intelligence, etc.

He has written on many different topics in radiology and has published extensively on musculoskeletal (MSK) magnetic resonance imaging, focusing on ligaments and cartilage.

Since 2001 he has been a guest lecturer at conferences, courses and master's degree classes at various universities, both nationally and internationally.

The Guirado Institute is located at the heart of Catalunya’s buoyant capital. The center has provided diagnostic care for over 40 years and moved to a new, 1,500 m2 wide facility in 2018.

The clinic offers a whole portfolio of cutting-edge medical imaging equipment, including Canon Medical’s Vantage Elan 1.5T and Vantage Galan 3T MR systems. Recently, the team decided to expand their fleet to meet the growing demand for MR studies and reduce waiting times, Dr. Catalá explained.

‘We wanted to increase productivity and maintain the quality of the studies we perform, while reducing waiting times for patients - from the moment they are referred until they’re admitted and positioned inside the scanner,’ he said.

Private radiology is a competitive environment where providers need to be at the forefront of the diagnostic service, both in terms of image quality and acquisition times.

‘Incorporating new state-of-the-art equipment is essential to continue to grow in this environment, ensuring the best diagnostic quality while working to improve patient experience,’ he said.

Dr. Catalá and his colleagues purchased the Vantage Fortian 1.5T in April 2022, becoming the first European center to work with the system.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision, as this was only the second scanner installed in the world. There was no reference to its performance in a clinical environment in Europe,’ he recalled. ‘But, together with Canon Medical as a team, we’re very happy we’ve taken that risk, because the equipment is giving excellent diagnostic results, even beyond our initial expectations.’

Excellent image quality right from the start

The Vantage Fortian offers excellent image quality, with a very high resolution and within adequate timing, he explained.

‘What’s very positive about our experience with the Fortian is that, from day one, image quality and the protocols installed on the equipment were very good. Obviously, we worked with Canon to adjust the protocols to our specific clinical requirements and preferences, but we were able to examine patients with the original protocols right from the start.’

With fine-tuned parameters, the team now manage to perform studies they used to carry out on 3T alone with the new equipment - for example, examinations of the inner ear or the pituitary gland, even in oncologic imaging.

‘In some cases, images taken with the Vantage Fortian are surprisingly similar to 3T images,’ said Dr. Catalá, who is also ‘very pleased with the performance of the machine, the results we’re getting, and the equipment’s potential to continue to improve and expand the types of studies we can perform.’

Response has been unanimous among the team, a first in the history of the center, he admitted. ‘We’re a radiology company, with senior professionals and a lot of experience in each pathology, but it’s the first time that there’s an initial consensus on the protocols and we all agree there’s been a substantial improvement with the equipment.’

Image quality is excellent for all types of studies, and sizable advances have been noticed in diffusion sequences, notably in the brain, neck, prostate and abdomen.

‘In the case of prostate studies, we were very surprised by the system’s image quality,’ he said. ‘In such studies, it always comes down diffusion, and with the new equipment and software version, we’ve increased image quality without distortion and with a high definition of the structures. The high-resolution anatomical images allow us to define the structures perfectly.’

In addition, the team has been ‘very positively surprised’ by the signal homogeneity of the Vantage Fortian.

Although 2D acquisitions still make up the majority of imaging protocols at Guirado Institute, the team chose to incorporate 3D sequences to all their protocols, to benefit from the opportunities provided by this type of acquisition.

‘For example, all knee studies now include a 3D acquisition for subsequent cartilage segmentation or for isotropic multiplanar reconstruction,’ he said.

An array of tools to improve workflow

Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine (AiCE), the artificial intelligence boosted software available on the Vantage Fortian, is applied to all protocols to obtain high image quality with competitive acquisition times, according to Dr. Catalá.

‘It enables us to increase anatomical coverage and resolution or decrease slice thickness and even study time in uncooperative patients,’ he said.

The combination of AiCE with Fortian's new acceleration techniques helps boost acquisition times without losing diagnostic quality, he added. ‘The Exsper for FSE sequences, for example, has enabled to accelerate these sequences even more, since it doesn’t present SPEEDER artifacts.’

Other new tools available on the Vantage Fortian, such as the ceiling camera and the Auto Scan Assist mode, help improve performance and workflow in all phases of an MRI study.

‘The system is very focused on reducing the time between scans, thanks to tools such as the ceiling camera with automatic detection of the region of study, which allows to accelerate patient centering. It’s also more comfortable for the technicians, as it automates the processes,’ he said. ‘The equipment also allows to expedite examination time, thanks to the automatic planning techniques in the Auto Scan Assist studies, which perform automatic detection of anatomical planes in various regions, for example the prostate, liver, heart, spine, etc.’

Besides the tools that boost workflow, the main benefits brought by the system are diffusion with field correction, distortion-corrected diffusion and new acceleration techniques, Dr. Catalá believes. ‘For me, these techniques, together with AiCE, are a must for any future equipment,’ he said.

In a continuous willingness to expand the clinical offering of his institute, Dr Catala would like to see future improvements around the ability to carry out interventional procedures, such as high-frequency ultrasound (HIFU), and more automated biopsy processes with the system. Another welcome upgrade would be further AI software improvement, in line with the team’s main concern, which is to offer a reliable and personalized diagnosis, he added.

‘We’re very proud to be the first center in Europe to install the system, and to collaborate with Canon Medical in the evaluation of the Vantage Fortian in a clinical setting,’ Dr. Catalá concluded.

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