MRI machines can be used to detect cases of stroke that require immediate surgical intervention. But these huge and expensive MRI machines require custom-built rooms due to their powerful magnetic field. Therefore patients are brought to the MRI scanners rather than the other way around.
This is about to change soon!
Hyperfine, a healthcare technology company headquartered in Connecticut has won FDA clearance for the first portable MRI scanner. The easy-to-use MRI scanner can be wheeled to a patient’s bedside.
A breakthrough in approachability for MR imaging
Dubbed the Portable Point-of-Care MRI system, the machine is 10 times lighter, consumes 35 times less power, and is 20 times less costly than current MRI machines.
The traditional MRI scans often require long wait times. But the portable MRI system, patients can be imaged at the point of care with initial scan results available in 30 seconds.
Though it’s not a lightweight machine, the 55” (140cm) tall machine weighs 1,400lbs (630kg). But a motorized wheel array on the bottom makes it quite manageable to roll up to a patient’s bedside.
In addition, this portable easy to use MRI scanner does not interfere with other equipment. Even the metal objects need not be removed from the room.
