Slimmed down: the minimalistic mini MRI

DW (English)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners enable the early detection of diseases with images from inside the body. However, many people do not have access to MRI devices. They are too big, too heavy and too expensive. A mini MRI can help.

Transcript

00:00It's one of the most important medical examination procedures of our time, Magnetic Resonance

00:07Imaging or MRI.

00:10The devices are used to take images of the inside of the body, such as the brain, ligaments

00:16or internal organs.

00:18This allows tumours, heart attacks or joint damage to be detected and treated at an early

00:23stage and all without radiation.

00:26Less than half of the world's population has access to MRI devices.

00:30In a country like India, the poverty is the biggest issue.

00:35And second biggest issue is to assess the medical facilities.

00:40While there are around 35 MRI devices per million inhabitants in Germany, there are

00:46only a tenth of that in India.

00:48This is because MRI devices are not only large and heavy, but also extremely energy intensive

00:54and expensive.

00:55For high-resolution images, they need strong magnetic fields.

00:59And these are generated by superconducting wire coils through which large electric currents

01:05can flow without loss.

01:07This requires complex and expensive cooling.

01:10However, an innovation from the German city of Erlangen could make MRIs more accessible

01:16worldwide.

01:17A group of researchers has succeeded in developing smaller, lighter and energy-saving MRI scanners.

01:24Our new system is more compact and less expensive than previous systems.

01:29It works independently of infrastructure and can be operated by anyone.

01:35This means the three researchers have developed a much smaller magnet for their MRI.

01:40It's cooled with helium.

01:42However, the new technology only requires a fraction of the previous amount and no longer

01:47needs to be refilled.

01:49This not only makes the device lighter and more compact, but also significantly cheaper

01:54to operate.

01:55And it can also be used safely in regions with an unreliable power supply.

02:01The smaller magnet initially makes the images worse, which means the noise is stronger.

02:06To compensate, we have to work with new methods such as artificial intelligence.

02:11Without it, the MRI device would take several hours to deliver a high-resolution scan.

02:20Look at the images.

02:21We have the same spinal column here, both with and without AI.

02:25The expert can see immediately that these images have much more detailed information

02:30than the images without, and that's exactly what happens.

02:35The AI supplements the images with standard information on the respective body region,

02:41resulting in high-resolution images.

02:44The development took 10 years and at its peak employed several hundred people.

02:50The three researchers received the Deutsche Zukunftspreis, an award that honours outstanding

02:55research and development projects for their innovation.

02:59Several hundred of their systems have now been produced and sold in over 60 countries

03:03worldwide.

03:05Now to Amritsar, a city in northwest India with a population of one million.

03:10This hospital, which was funded by donations, recently acquired its first MRI scanner.

03:16It's the only one for hundreds of kilometres and it's in great demand.

03:21So with the help of this machine, we are available to provide the diagnostic services in very

03:28reasonable prices.

03:31The reasonable price is primarily based on the lower operating costs compared to conventional

03:36MRI devices.

03:37Earlier, after every two to three years, they have to refill helium.

03:43Now in this world crisis, there is a very shortage of helium.

03:47The Magnetom Freestar uses only 0.7 helium.

03:51You don't have to refill every time.

03:54The hospital also opted for this MRI device because it's smaller and more compact and

04:00it doesn't require highly trained staff either.

04:03But it's still a relatively large, heavy device.

04:07It remains to be seen whether MRIs can become even smaller in the future.

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