PHYSIO MRI TECH S.L. – BARTHEL HF-TECHNIK GMBH

SUMMARY

Develop a lightweight, robust and easily transportable MRI system, suitable to operate in extreme environments such as field hospitals, conflict or disaster zones, rural populations and remote, where current MRI has no place. This system will also be low cost and easy to use. Potential applications range from neuroimaging to musculoskeletal conditions in the extremities.

PHYSIO MRI TECH S.L. – LEIDEN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

SUMMARY

Early detection of cancer is crucial globally, given its high morbidity and mortality with millions of cases diagnosed annually. Early identification improves survival rates and reduces treatment costs. However, traditional methods are expensive, invasive and inaccessible in developing countries. MRI offers detailed images, but its cost and limited availability create significant disparities. The CHECK_HEALTH project aims to develop a cost-effective MRI scanner with AI to improve crucial global access to timely cancer treatments.

CHECK_HEALTH promises significant impact by improving early detection of cancer worldwide, vital to improving clinical outcomes and quality of life. AI advances in MRI promise efficiency, accuracy and cost reduction, transforming global accessibility to care.

I3M – CSIC – UPV – PHYSIO MRI TECH S.L. – LEIDEN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER – BERGMAN CLINICS – IIS LA FE

BACKGROUND

Mobile medical imaging devices are invaluable for clinical diagnostic purposes both inside and outside healthcare institutions. Unfortunately, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the gold standard for numerous neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, is not readily portable. Recently, low-field MRI companies have demonstrated the first decisive steps towards portability within medical facilities and vehicles, but the scanners’ weight and dimensions are still incompatible with more demanding use cases such as in remote and developing regions, sports facilities and events, and medical or home healthcare.

In a collaboration between CSIC, PHYS and LA FE, we have recently demonstrated in the Histo-MRI and PR Scanner projects in vivo images taken with a light, small footprint, low-field extremity MRI scanner outside the controlled settings provided by medical facilities, opening a path towards highly accessible MRI under circumstances previously unrealistic. To this end, we acquired images of a volunteer’s knee in indoor and outdoor environments, including the first-ever MRI images obtained at a patient’s home, and even in open air connected to a gasoline generator. In 2022, we installed the scanner in the medical facilities of the Ricardo Tormo Motor Racing Circuit during the four days of the Motorcycle Grand Prix held in Valencia (Spain), whose medical staff were able to visualize a number of lesions and conditions, including a traumatic arthritis which an X-ray radiograph and visual inspection had missed.