The status of MRI in 1986: rates of adoption in the United States and worldwide.

To determine the status of diffusion of MR imagers worldwide at the end of 1985, a survey of all known MRI manufacturers was conducted in January 1986. The results indicate that 371 (73%) of the 511 MR imagers installed worldwide at the end of 1985 were in the United States. The number of MR imagers installed in the United States more than tripled in 1985, with an increasing tendency toward use of superconducting magnets and installation of MR imagers in outpatient settings. Despite the recent implementation of prospective payment in the United States, MR imagers are diffusing widely, although not as rapidly as CT scanners a decade ago.