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Portable MRI Provides Life Saving Information

Sep, 2021

MRI machine can help detect strokes that need surgery and provides life saving information in areas where access to detailed brain scans is not readily available.

A new study led by Yale shows that a portable MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) machine can detect brain haemorrhages, strokes that require surgery to stop bleeding in the brain. The device provides life-saving information to doctors that can save patient’s life by giving access to detailed and sophisticated brain imaging scans particularly in areas where brain imaging is not available. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications in August 2021.

Hyperfine, a healthcare technology company, has created this device as an alternative to large and expensive MRI devices that require rooms designed according to their strong magnetic fields. The team of researchers studied the efficiency of a device known as a portable point-of-care MRI system. The newly developed MRI device can be carried near the patient and by plugging it into a regular power outlet, it completes the MRI without any additional protective equipment. The researchers compared the results of portable MRI of about 144 individuals with results obtained from conventional neuroimaging scans.

Then they studied the images to differentiate patients with brain haemorrhage from patients with acute ischemic stroke. A new, portable MRI device detected 80% of intracerebral haemorrhages accurately. According to the researchers, this is the first study to validate clinical implications of a brain hemorrhage using a portable MRI device. In areas where there is no access to brain imaging technology, this portable MRI device will play an important role. The team is set to reveal its potential in diagnosing patients with brain tumours, head trauma, and high blood pressure.