"Revolutionizing MRI Affordability: Five Key Steps"
Researchers have outlined five key challenges to make magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems more affordable and accessible in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These include improving low-field technologies, building physicians' confidence, prioritizing open-source approaches, developing AI tools for LMIC contexts, and boosting funding for sustainable MRI. The researchers have developed two types of low-field MRI systems that can be optimized to monitor specific conditions such as hydrocephalus. They advocate for the use of open-source hardware and software to empower scientists, clinicians, and medical technologists in LMICs to design, maintain, and build low-cost MRI systems on-site.