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CC BY 4.0 · Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2024; 14(02): 163-168
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1769759
Review Article

The Rise and Efficiency of Low Field Portable MRI Scanners

Tancia Pires 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Medical Imaging Technology, Nitte (Deemed to be university), K.S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Mangalore, India
,
Jaseemudheen M.M 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Medical Imaging Technology, Nitte (Deemed to be university), K.S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Mangalore, India
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Abstract

Since the discovery of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an imaging modality, it has evolved immensely and is still doing so. Most imaging modalities have made bedside or emergency imaging possible due to their portability. This aspect is yet to be fully evaluated and established in the case of MRI as its high-field strength requires specialized infrastructure and its time-consuming nature makes its portability questionable. The goal of this review is to access the efficiency and feasibility of low-field portable MRI (pMRI) systems in a wide array of health care applications. Articles from indexed journals, on PubMed, Springer, Elsevier, etc. databases, relevant to this study were searched and reviewed. This review provides an atypical design that could be used in making a pMRI unit that could find its potential in diagnosing a wide variety of pathologies with an added advantage of imaging critical patients in the intensive care unit or patients in isolation due to its portability, imaging patients with implants or prosthesis effectively due to its low field, pediatric imaging due to its high speed, for guided interventions, imaging obese and claustrophobic patients due to its open nature, in dental imaging, extremity scanning, etc. With its vast spectrum of applications in the health care system, the future of low-field pMRI units seems to be bright.

Keywords

bedside imaging - extremity MR imaging - low-field MRI - magnetic resonance imaging - portable MRI

Authors' Contributions

Guarantor of integrity of the entire study was done by Jaseemudheen. Study concepts and Design were performed by both Tancia Pires and Jaseemudheen. Literature research and manuscript preparation were done by Tancia Pires. Manuscript editing and critical revision were done by Jaseemudheen. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.




Publication History

Article published online:
13 June 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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