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A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

nature.com

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Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#131

Post by haldujai »

theptip wrote: post #103

At $20k estimated cost, you are getting into territory where the TAM of non-medical uses may be higher. Sports physio / trainers would kill to be able to do regular MRI on their athletes. Being able to do pre/post workout imaging, and the kind of training programs this level of visibility would unlock, are quite exciting. Assuming you can generalize from brain to whole-body, I think you could sell one of these to eve…

This wouldn’t work.

I interpret musculoskeletal MRI studies in my practice. Small joint (what this would be used for) ligaments and tendons are incredibly difficult to see and assess even at ultra high res studies performs on 3T magnets.

With the spatial resolution of this you would be way better off using ultrasound.

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#132

Post by prefrontal »

dtgriscom wrote: post #125
prefrontal wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the kind words. I am the first author of the "Neural correlates of interspecies perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic Salmon: An argument for multiple comparisons correction" paper. Happy to take any questions here. A link to the original poster: http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-Salmon-2009.pdf

You run into the most entertaining people here. Got any good fish recipes?

Marc Abrahams, organizer of the Ig Nobels, asked us for a salmon recipe to include in a cookbook they were publishing. We sent in a single page recipe for how to cook a salmon in an MRI scanner by overriding the safety protocols. That was fun to write.

https://www.amazon.com/Ig-Nobel-Cookbook-1/dp/1939385164

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#133

Post by ohbleek »

saulrh wrote: post #109

Being able to use this around metal is also huge. It means you can use it on patients with metal implants or bullets in them, to guide surgery in real-time, in the surgical suite, at the same time as other medical instruments, at the patient's bedside instead of in a dedicated room that you have to transport the patient to, etc.

This is even more evident in the time of Covid. Currently Covid patients have to do imaging at the very end of the day so Covid sanitizing protocols don’t have to be repeated over and over all day. It may seem minor but delaying imaging can delay other procedures and therapies for an entire day. Having the option to transport the equipment instead of the patient has many clear benefits.

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#134

Post by prefrontal »

BizarroLand wrote: post #119
prefrontal wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the kind words. I am the first author of the "Neural correlates of interspecies perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic Salmon: An argument for multiple comparisons correction" paper. Happy to take any questions here. A link to the original poster: http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-Salmon-2009.pdf

It would be nice if the cost of an MRI was so low you would typically get a cheap one as part of your yearly physical and if anything popped up they could do it again in an expensive, high powered one to verify.

I've scanned about 300 people as part of my research career. The director of the imaging center reviewed every anatomical scan. From that group of 300 we informed about three people that they had an anomaly which should be examined by a doctor.

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#135

Post by saulrh »

IshKebab wrote: post #121
saulrh wrote: post #109

Being able to use this around metal is also huge. It means you can use it on patients with metal implants or bullets in them, to guide surgery in real-time, in the surgical suite, at the same time as other medical instruments, at the patient's bedside instead of in a dedicated room that you have to transport the patient to, etc.

Difficult to use this in real time given the acquisition time is about 5 minutes!

That's entirely fair, yeah. Still much faster than closing the patient back up so you can drive them to imaging!

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#137

Post by lostlogin »

haldujai wrote: post #129
lostlogin wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the state of play has changed, as we scan for this indication in MR, not PET. Have you a link to something as my understanding is that small lesions are better found with MR? Or is this a rule that applies to high end research work and hasn’t hit clinical practice yet? Maybe a limitation of the isotopes used clinically?

I am a radiologist. FDG PET/CT is not used to stage intracranial metastases due to background brain activity significantly reducing sensitivity. You’re likely only detecting lesions 1cm or greater in the brain, or ones which demonstrate low metabolic activity and appear dark. MRI is much more sensitive and specific and is the standard of care for staging in my practice and as per the NCCN clinical guidelines. I haven…

Thanks, it’s reassuring that we aren’t way off piste.

Re: A low-cost and shielding-free ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner

#138

Post by dv_dt »

asiachick wrote: post #105
cute_boi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, the way they turned the bleak situation into something sanguine is fascinating. I still remember how expensive is MRI. I used to earn like $150 usd and the cost was around $200 usd. I hope such inequality shall perish in the future, so people can at least get proper treatment.

I'm curious what makes them expensive. In Japan they are basically free (covered by national insurance for which the price is low). I believe at one point Japan had the most MRI machines per capita. I think the government just decided they were worth while and got a bunch where as in the USA they were seen as a money source and they generally charge $1k to $10k ?!?!?! I'd love for the expensive ones to be disrupted.…

As with many other parts is US healthcare, we pay too much for the exact same products and services.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/03/15/why-a...

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