Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Malaria Research at Malawi College of Medicine

Anthony Muyepa, Director of ICT, COM
Dr Sam Kampondeni, Consultant Radiologist
Dr Terri Taylor  Michigan State University Research fellow

College of Medicine, The University of Malawi - Malawi
Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital - Malawi
Blantyre Malaria Project - Malawi
Michigan State University - U.S.A
University of Maryland - U.S.A
U.S National Institutes of Health - U.S.A
General Electric Healthcare (G.E) - U.S.A

University of Malawi, College of Medicine,

Anthony Muyepa, Director of ICT, COM

e-mail: muyepaa[AT]medcol.mw

(1) The support of research on common neurologic disorders in Malawi,
(2) Improving clinical services for patients receiving care at QECH, a public facility and the     teaching hospital for the University Of Malawi College Of Medicine
(3) Serving as a referral facility for private pay patients in Malawi and surrounding countries.
MRI is a radiology technique that uses magnetism, radio waves and a computer to produce images of body structures. The scanner is a tube surrounded by giant circular magnet. The patient is placed on a moveable bed that is inserted into the magnet. The magnet then creates a strong magnetic field that aligns the protons of the body and they produce a faint signal that is detected by the receiver portion of the MRI scanner. The received information is processed by a computer and an image is produced
A patient who has been referred to be scanned by the MRI goes to the MRI Unit to book for an appointment. Then those responsible for the MRI use make sure that the machine is safe for the patient. Patients who have metallic materials within the body are advised to notify the MRI staff because this can significantly distort the images obtained by the MRI scanner. Similarly patients with artificial heart valves, metallic ear implants, insulin pumps are advised not to have an MRI (www.medicinenet)

Patients with the following sicknesses
•    Malaria patients
•    Brain diseases
•    Spinal cord diseases
•    Head and Neck diseases(Eyes, Face, Throat, Ears, neck)
•    Joints and limbs
•    Abdominal masses
•    Heart and great vessel
The MRI scanner, serves not only Malawi but also Patients in neighbouring countries such as  Zambia and Mozambique

Complex scans  are sent to Michigan State University over the VSAT link , primarily overnight for further investigation

1.3 million US$