The Bobby Murcer Mobile MRI Unit offers New Yorkers free magnetic resonance imaging scans and is the brainchild of Dr. Patrick Kelly of NYU. Dr. Kelly is also the founder and president of the Brain Tumor Foundation, which sponsors the unit.

The Mobile MRI debuted November 2008 on the steps of City Hall four months after the popular Yankee's death. Murcer's wife, Kay, attended the ceremony. She said that her husband would have been absolutely thrilled about the van.

What appears to be a huge tractor trailer actually contains a GE $1.2 million 1.5 Telsa Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner that can do full-body scans. Dr. Kelly said "although the scanner can do full-body, it is only being used for the head." The process takes about 20 minutes (the scan takes about 10) and patients are rewarded with a CD copy of their scan, which is sent on to an Atlanta radiology lab for analysis. Results are sent to the patient's physician.
Dr. Kelly said that much thought went into the concept before the Brain Tumor Foundation (BTF) decided to go ahead with the project. The BTF's effort is in concert with an on-going academic epidemiological study that will investigate the prevalence and incidence of brain tumors, as well as risk factors (e.g. cell phone use, family history, etc.). If this test were done in a hospital or lab, the price could range from $700 to over $1,000 to complete according to Kelly.

Dr. Kelly has operated on more than 7,300 brain tumors spanning a 34-year career in academic medical centers. He said that the majority of them are incurable when they become symptomatic and the best that can be done is to provide the gift of time. "A screening program similar to other cancer screening programs for breast, colon, skin, prostate, etc. -- allows for diagnosing tumors earlier and before they become symptomatic" states Dr. Kelly. An MRI can detect a tumor the size of a pea or smaller in the brain, as well as identify other problems such as vascular disease, degenerative disease and early dementia. "It is better to find a tumor when it is small," says Kelly, "when there is so much more we can do about it."

At this time, the BTF's scanner costs nothing to the health system. It will be set up in areas around New York City. Public and private money purchased and funds the project. Kelly says that he would like to see this program (costing an estimated $1 million to operate yearly) go national. To keep the MRI van running, donations may be made to www.braintumorfoundation.org.

Bobby Murcer, a major league baseball player and New York Yankee, died as a result of a malignant brain tumor in 2008. Before his passing on July 12th, he was a strong advocate and spokesperson for The Brain Tumor Foundation and its Road to Early Detection campaign.

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