October 19, 2011 — GE Healthcare announced the United States launch of the GEM Suite (Geometry Embracing Method) of surface coils, designed for use with the Optima MR450w 1.5T wide bore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Syracuse Orthopedic Solutions is the first United States site to install the technology.
Designed to help maximize patient comfort, the GEM Suite features ergonomic design, flexible lightweight material, padding and comfort tilt positioning. Together, they embrace the patient and help to enable high image quality for small field of view (FOV) detail studies and whole-body reviews.
“SOS needed a new solution for our claustrophobic and large individuals,” said James Colone, director of medical imaging and DME services at Syracuse Orthopedic Solutions. “Our previous solution was a .7T Open MR. It was the best solution in 2003, but with the recent introduction of the Optima MR450w wide bore 70 cm bore in a 1.5T unit, we realized that we could now perform exams of outstanding quality on this population of patients with greater comfort. The addition of the GEM coil package brought this unit to a new level of comfort for the patients and ease of use for the technologists. The technologists now actually have more options for positioning the patients with fewer coils. The GEM Suite coils are flexible so they conform to the patient’s body and we especially like the Comfort Tilt head/neck coil that finally allows us to comfortably scan kyphotic patients.”
The combined features of the entire suite are designed to facilitate high resolution, signal-to-noise (SNR) imaging from the top of the head down to the feet; they also maximize patient comfort across many different shapes, sizes and situations.
In general, a significant amount of patient motion during an MR exam is the result of discomfort or anxiety. By addressing the sources of discomfort and anxiety, the new technology aims to help reduce patient motion and improve the quality of the exam.
Covering 98 percent of all exam types, the GEM coils can be used individually or combined to provide head to toe patient coverage. They enable automatic selection of the configuration that best fits the selected region of interest. It includes a total 205 cm scanning range, feet-first scanning in all supported exams, and design features to embrace patients of a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
The GEM suite comprises a set of receive-only radio frequency surface coils including the express table and posterior array, the head and neck unit, the anterior array, the peripheral vascular/lower extremity array and flex coils.
For more information: www.gehealthcare.com
March 13, 2026 
