Open-source 3D-printed portable MRI machine built for under $70k

ssbulaev about 4 hours ago 2 commentsRead Article on tomshardware.com

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Discussion (2 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

margalabargala•about 3 hours ago

> However, this portable device, which has a 3D-printed core, has a limited field strength of just 50mT (compared to the 1.5T to 3T used by full-sized units).

So anywhere from 1/30 to 1/60 the utility, for 1/15th the price.

The expensive parts of owning and operating MRI machines are not anything that 3d printing makes cheaper.

R_Man77•about 3 hours ago

Unfortunately the utility of MRIs (for human diagnostic purposes) does not scale linearly with power at least on the lower end. You need a certain resolution to reach a level of confidence to make a diagnosis and act upon it.

When radiologists or neurologists who are used to looking at slices from 3T machines have to look at lower quality images you can hear a few grumbles about how it would increase their diagnostic certainty about what they are looking at if they had just another slice or 2.

Still a very cool project though!