McMaster Children’s Hospital received a new state-of-the-art MRI machine today.

Staff says it works faster and quieter and is particularly better for pediatric patients.

The new MRI machine is going to increase the capacity of Hamilton Health Sciences to complete scans, which should help it work through the 10,000 adults and 900 children currently on the waitlist for an MRI.

Director of Diagnostic Services Sarah Jane Adams says this is the fifth MRI across all Hamilton Health Sciences sites and the second at Mac Kids.

Adams says that’s significant because of the huge demand as they are already servicing 33,000 adults and 5,500 children every year.

The new MRI machine should be up and running by the summer.