Last April, the world of medical imaging took a major step forward with the unveiling of the first images from a new MRI called Iseult. With a magnetic field of 11.7 Tesla, it is the most powerful in the world. Today, PRS Healthcare would like to highlight another project. While Iseult offers unprecedented image precision and sharpness, this other aims to democratise access to medical imaging. But also to combat medical deserts. For this new MRI, the designers turned to AI… and a few local shops! We tell you all about it.
Background
MRI is an expensive piece of equipment. Both in terms of purchase and maintenance. This has a cascading effect.
- Equipment levels are relatively low. On the African continent, for example, there is less than one MRI scanner per million inhabitants. By comparison, in the United States there are 40 per million people. In Japan, the figure is 55 per million population. Closer to home, the European Union has an average of 20 per million inhabitants. In France, the figure is 14.8 per million inhabitants.
- This lack of equipment leads to long waiting times. Even in France.
- As the Fédération nationale des médecins radiologues explains, the health of patients is ultimately at risk. From the moment cancer is suspected, an MRI scan must be performed within 10 to 15 days, because the longer it takes, the greater the risk of metastasis, not to mention tumour growth.
The response
To solve this problem, a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong has been working to develop a new type of MRI. Led by researcher Yujiao Zhao, the team has succeeded in creating an MRI using commercially available materials. For example, this one uses only a simple magnet. And all for just $22,000. The new machine uses only 1800 watts, the equivalent of a hairdryer. This is significantly less than the power consumption of a conventional MRI scanner.
Power consumption of a conventional MRI
According to Simon Calvert of Siemens Magnet Technology, “Standard examinations can require about 25 kW during the scan. More demanding examinations with energy-intensive sequences can reach 70 kW or even 80 kW. And that’s not counting the energy required to cool the magnet: 6 kW to 7 kW for a conventional MRI scanner, compared with 300 W for the MRI scanner used by the University of Hong Kong researchers. Typically, around 60 to 70 per cent of the total energy consumption of an MRI scanner is used for cooling,” he adds.
An AI-based MRI
Of course, this one does not offer the resolution of a conventional MRI (0.05 Tesla compared to 3 Tesla). Even less than that obtained by Iseult. To compensate for this, the research team integrated an AI specialised in human anatomy into its model. After testing on 30 volunteers, this with AI from Yujiao Zhao’s team produced images similar to those from conventional equipment, which are 60 times more powerful.
To find out more
Want to find out more about this study? It was published in the scientific journal Science.
