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Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

science.org

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Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#11

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

tkzed49 wrote: post #10
Jimega36 wrote: post #2

"The lower-power machine was much cheaper to manufacture and operate, more comfortable and less noisy for patients, and the final images after computational processing were as clear and detailed as those obtained by the high-power devices currently used in the clinical setting."

300-1800W power draw seems impressive! It looks like standard machines are using something on the order of 25kW while scanning, which certainly sounds prohibitive for less developed infrastructure.

Also, they need to keep vats of liquid helium around.

Difficult stuff to store. I knew they needed cold gas, but liquid helium is crazy.

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#12

Post by alwa »

I can’t access the full paper, but from the abstract, is it accurate that they’re using ML techniques to synthesize higher-quality and higher-resolution imagery, and that’s the basis for their claim that it’s comparable to the output of a conventional MRI scan?

Do clinicians really prefer that the computer make normative guesses to “clean up” the scan, versus working with the imagery reflecting the actual measurements and applying their own clinical judgment?

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#13

Post by hinkley »

throwup238 wrote: post #6
xyst wrote: post #5

“Tesla” is a unit of measure for magnetic strength; and not the car manufacturer.

I figured they were using 1/20th of Nikola Tesla's cadaver. That's the only logical interpretation of that headline.

The device is actually designed to scan 20 people at the same time. It’s cheap because you get a bulk discount on your scans.

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#14

Post by habosa »

This is remarkable. 1800W is like a fancy blender, amazing to be able to do a useful MRI at that power.

For anyone who is unaware, a standard MRI machine is about 1.5T (so 30x the magnetic strength) and uses 25kW+. For special purposes you may see machines up to 7T, you can imagine how much power they need and how sensitive the equipment is.

Lowering the barriers to access to MRIs would have a massive impact on effective diagnosis for many conditions.

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#16

Post by [deleted] »

habosa wrote: post #14

This is remarkable. 1800W is like a fancy blender, amazing to be able to do a useful MRI at that power. For anyone who is unaware, a standard MRI machine is about 1.5T (so 30x the magnetic strength) and uses 25kW+. For special purposes you may see machines up to 7T, you can imagine how much power they need and how sensitive the equipment is. Lowering the barriers to access to MRIs would have a massive impact on effec…

[deleted]

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#18

Post by toomuchtodo »

imjonse wrote: post #15

The key is cheaper device combined with deep learning.

Could you use the deep learning to improve the device to reduce the need for deep learning to fill in the gaps from traditional devices? Essentially teaching an algorithm to build a better, more simple imaging device in a pid loop?

Re: Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging at 0.05 Tesla

#19

Post by jahnu »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #11
tkzed49 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

300-1800W power draw seems impressive! It looks like standard machines are using something on the order of 25kW while scanning, which certainly sounds prohibitive for less developed infrastructure.

Also, they need to keep vats of liquid helium around. Difficult stuff to store. I knew they needed cold gas, but liquid helium is crazy.

There was some buzz years ago about using liquid nitrogen instead but I don’t know if it made it into widespread production

https://www.wired.com/story/mri-magnet-cooling/

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