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New Portable 1.5 T MRI for Faster Scan Developed in India

Tata Trusts & Social Alpha announce the development of a high-tech, portable MRI scanner

Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) announced, the development of a high-tech portable Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner, a first ever in the country, designed to make MRI affordable and accessible for everyone. A team of highly talented engineers at Voxelgrids, an incubatee of Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE), have been able to achieve this radical innovation in 24 months. The 1.5 Tesla whole body MRI scanner will make MRI scans 3 to 4 times faster, compared to other scanners that are currently available in the market. This will reduce the cost of an MRI scan significantly.

The scanner is compact, extremely light weight and consumes far less power. It will also enable the deployment of fully portable whole-body high field MRI scanners. This system can be mounted on a truck and taken to small towns in the remotest parts of the country, for real-time imaging of patients at district level or even primary health centres.

Tata Trusts & Social Alpha announce the development of a high-tech, portable MRI scanner, making MRI possible even in remote areas. This is pioneering Indian science & tech from Tata Trusts’ FISE supported incubatee, Voxelgrids.

Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts, said, “Innovation and entrepreneurship requires creativity, hard-work and endurance to succeed. I am pleased that the MRI project team has demonstrated this. It also requires an enabling ecosystem to ensure that the most talented innovators are encouraged to take entrepreneurial risks and create positive social, economic and environmental impact.”

Voxelgrids has been supported by Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) from development to introduction of the MRI scanner. FISE promotes socially relevant innovations and entrepreneurship with a mission to create large scale sustainable social impact. FISE engages with entrepreneurs throughout their product lifecycle stages, providing critical incubation and mentorship support.

The project won the prestigious Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) award in 2017 while it was still under development. Bangalore based Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences is the clinical partner for the development, where the first system has been installed. The Clinical trials for the MRI will beging in August 2018.

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