CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Thousands of Central Virginians are dealing with joint pain as well as back pain that they just can’t seem to shake no matter how many injections they take or medications they ingest.

Oftentimes when there is a significant injury that is acute or chronic, physicians will order an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to get a better look at the inflammation and any possibly ligament damage in the joint that could be causing the issue. However, one of the challenges with traditional MRI’s is that the patient has to remain completely still on their back in a small, enclosed cylinder in order for the physicians to get the information they need. Unfortunately, there is a subset of our population, who cannot undergo this type of a procedure due to being claustrophobic.

Dr. Scott Wagner, owner of Advanced Pain Management of Virginia in Seminole Square believes there is a revolutionary technology that could potentially improve the experience for everyone who needs an MRI. ‘

“25-30% percent of MRI’s cannot be completed because of the claustrophobia fear of the patient. So, that’s very interesting, I didn’t know that until I got involved with this company. So, it’s an open MRI, so that’s one thing that they have, the technology that I wanted for the last 15 years of my life was a weight bearing MRI or even better a motion weight bearing MRI, we’re not there yet,” Wagner said. “But the standing MRI, and it’s open and I can put the person in the position that it hurts, it’s just so much advantage.”

Wagner is referring to a brand-new product being manufactured by multiple companies that is an alternative to the enclosed traditional MRI where the patient is horizontal. However, the technology is still very cutting edge and there are only 18 of these units currently in use in the United States and Dr. Wagner is weeks away from acquiring one at his practice, Advanced Pain Management of Virginia. Conceptually, a patient would not be enclosed and would stand upright in order for the physicians to see how gravity was impacting the joint or region of their spine that was being examined to more effectively identify issues that could be contributing to the chronic pain.

Wagner is very excited about the possibility of patients being able to demonstrate movements in the MRI process that can also provide more accurate data on the nature of the debilitating issue in the body.

‘”[If a patient says] ‘Oh, my back hurts, my leg goes numb when I move like this or my knee hurts when I stand like this, so my rotator cuff doesn’t hurt here but it hurts when I throw a ball,’ so you can actually put the patient in the spot that it hurts and then image that and so that’s a really cool factor with the machine.” Wagner said.

He believes this new technology just allows those who are treating patience to obtain a much higher level of qualitative information that will ultimately help them effectively treat the problem and the actual machine itself is far less cumbersome in terms of the space it takes up in a medical facility.

“Technology is so cool because most MRI’s that you see as hospitals are a rating of what they call tesla, which is 1.5 or 3.0 tesla so there really powerful they’re really big,” he said. “This one is only a 0.25 tesla, the problem with [a machine that small like] that in the past is that you couldn’t see very well, you didn’t get good images. A decade and a half later, this company has solved this issue.”

So, in essence, gone are the days of the bulky rigid intimidating MRI machine that required you to visit a hospital and instead a much smaller, more efficient model that can provide better information as a result of innovation in medical technology.

Wagner is expecting to begin utilizing 1 of the 18 units in the United States at his practice in Charlottesville very soon.

“We’re about six weeks away from seeing patients and we’re super excited about it,” Wagner said. “I think it’s going to help the community tremendously. One for the claustrophobia being able to get it, one for people because of the low waiting, [for example] say they have a knee replacement or metal in them. you can get an MRI. The main thing that is self-serving for me is that I can see you in a vulnerable position and you can see it.  I mean we go over MRIs with people and then we can do a post scan, so we can do a scan on the knee and then flex the knee in the same diagnostic process. So, we don’t have to wait and do another one which would take 45 minutes. I think the second scan only takes about six minutes.”

Overall, this new MRI technology will create greater access, produce data much faster and allow practitioners to see joints in different movements, all of which is not available with a normal MRI. For more information on this new product, Dr. Wagner can be reached online: at https://advancedpainmanagementva.com/

Below you can listen to Dr. Wagner’s lates podcast which discusses this innovative product as well as the benefits of stem cell treatments on joint pain and much more.