Heart beats in Monterey County diagnosed in Japan

"Reyes Mendoza breathed deeply, listening to music as an MRI scanned his heart Tuesday. In the next room, Dr. Timothy Albert, a cardiac specialist with Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, and a lab technician looked on as three-dimensional images appeared on the computer. Joining them through video conference more than 5,000 miles and 17 hours away in Japan, Dr. Bei Xhang looked at the same images and manipulated the MRI to capture more scans of Mendoza's heart and arteries. "There is definitely an art to it," Albert said of the MRI's ability to take detailed images of beating hearts, blood flow, and the body's network of blood vessels. The scan was the first time SVMH and its partner, electronics company Toshiba, connected remotely with another doctor through the new MRI at SVMH's Cardiovascular Diagnostic Center at Ryan Ranch, said Bob Giegerich, director of Toshiba's MRI business unit." - Salinas Californian