Pakistani Scientist Dr. Khan Siddiqui Invents World’s First Portable MRI Scanner
For the first time in the history of medical sciences and healthcare, a Pakistani scientist named Dr. Khan Siddiqui has invented a portable MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner. Before this, the conventional MRI scanners used to be really huge and immovable. They would technically accommodate entire rooms which were specially built for the massive components of the scanner to fit in.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is basically a radiology technique scan. It uses radio waves, magnetism and a computer to produce images of body structures. It helps doctors to detect different diseases through scanning when other methods of testing failed to provide sufficient information for the disease’s confirmation.
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Although the MRI scans are a very helpful tool for doctors to diagnose diseases. Still, many of them could not have them because of their really high costs and not having sufficient space for accommodating the machinery. To get over with all these drawbacks, Dr. Khan Siddiqui, the CEO of a New York-based company named ‘Hyperfine’ has attained 510(k) clearance from FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the first-ever portable MRI scanner. The FDA gives the 510(k) clearance to those machines that are both effective and safe for the public.
Dr. Khan Siddiqui is a Pakistani-American Radiologist, Healthcare Professional, Engineer, and Serial Entrepreneur. He is the head of a medical equipment manufacturing company, Hyperfine, located in Guilford, United States.
What does the Portable MRI Scanner look like?
The first image of a portable MRI scanner can be seen below:
The first most important and noticeable feature of this MRI scanner is its size. It can be seen that the size of the MRI scanner is spectacularly less than the size of conventional MRI scanners. Apart from that, the weight of the portable MRI scanner is 635 KG. This weight is almost negligible when compared to the 4,500 KG of a typical 1.5T MRI machine. The weight gets to be even more, up to 7,500 KG, when talking about a 3T MRI scanner. Now that’s what I may say, a major breakthrough in the invention of the MRI machinery.
Below is the image of a portable MRI scanner up against the traditional MRI machine.
The size and weight of the portable MRI scanner are greatly reduced as compared to the typical MRI scanner. The thing that makes the MRI scanner portable is the wheel array placed at its bottom. With the help of this wheel array, anyone can move the machine without pushing 635 KG from place to place. Interestingly, the Lucy point-of-care MRI, as the portable device is named, will consume 35 times less power than the normal MRI scanner.
How it Works and How Effective will it be?
The Lucy point-of-care MRI can be easily plugged into a standard wall outlet and used instantly. The operations of the MRI scanner can be carried out using a tablet. Images of the different parts of the body can be viewed on a smartphone and saved on to cloud storage.
“This MRI scanner has the ability to effectively scan the head, neck and other parts of the body in any clinical setting,” says Dr. Khan Siddiqui. It means the MRI scanner can be helpful in emergency rooms, ICUs, and hospitals that do not have conventional MRI scanners at their place.
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The price of the portable MRI scanner will be $50,000, once it goes into mass production. The price of this scanner is 20-times cheaper than the typical MRI machine.
Source: ProPakistani
