Building Accessible MRI Scanners to Meet the Infrastructural Demands of South Asia
Arjun Arunachalam1
1Voxelgrids Innovations Private Limited, Bangalore, India

Synopsis

Keywords: Physics & Engineering: Hardware

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners have been used for regular clinical diagnosis for close to forty years now. However, while today there are regions in the world where the public has easy access to state-of-the-art scanners, there also exist regions where such accessibility is virtually non-existent. In this talk, the terms affordability and accessibility are elaborated upon and a design-criteria for an accessible and affordable scanner specifically for south Asia is presented. Finally, a summary of the steps that may be required to make MRI accessible and affordable to all is shared.

Synopsis

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners have been used for regular clinical diagnosis for close to forty years now. However, while today there are regions in the world where the public has easy access to state-of-the-art scanners, there also exist regions where such accessibility is virtually non-existent. In this talk, the terms affordability and accessibility are elaborated upon and a design-criteria for an accessible and affordable scanner for specifically for south Asia is presented. Finally, a summary of the steps that may be required to make MRI MRI accessible and affordable to all is shared.

Acknowledgements

Voxelgrids has an ongoing research collaboration with the cryogenics department of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for magnet development and is thankful to the institute for its support. The authors also acknowledge the financial support given by the Government of India, specifically the Biotechnology, Industry, Research, Assistance Council (BIRAC), for magnet and scanner development.

References

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Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 31 (2023)