A new bedside MRI has been created for kids as an easier, less terrifying alternative.
According to Pediatric Neurosurgeon Alexandra Beier, moving some children to a room with an MRI can be risky.
“There’s a lot of patients, especially the cardiac patients, where they cannot physically be moved, and even our severe traumatic brain injury patients where you know every time you move them, you’re risking increased pressure to their brain,” Beier said.
The new MRI is smaller and portable, allowing scans to be done right at a young patient’s bedside. The magnet in the mobile unit is less powerful, and the time it takes is cut from an hour to 35 minutes.
“It would never replace a full MRI, it would just add to the ability to do the information at the bedside,” Beier said.
The quicker decisions are made, the more lives that can be saved.
Doctors believe that the portable MRI will have far-reaching implications beyond pediatrics. The aim is to enhance access to diagnostic imaging for patients of all ages.