New bedside MRI for $50K

This is an amazing machine. A magnetic resonance imaging scanner that fits on a trolley like an ultrasound machine, can be wheeled around the hospital by one or two people, and costs $50,000. Price of a car. Wow.

Magnetic resonance imaging is no longer confined to radiology departments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has provided clearance to the "world's first" bedside MRI system, according to an announcement.

Hyperfine said it will begin shipping its portable, low-field modalities this summer. It's 510(k) clearance falls on the same day that Yale researchers reported the device can accurately and safely image patient's brains for stroke. Those preliminary results are set to be presented next week at the American Stroke Association's International conference in Los Angeles, the group announced.

"We've flipped the concept from having to get patients to the MRI to bringing the MRI to the patients," said Kevin Sheth, MD, senior author and a chief physician at Yale School of Medicine. "This early work suggests our approach is safe and viable in a complex clinical care environment."

If this pans out, a lot of people will have their lives saved by cheap and easy MRI scans.

In the United States, anyway. Look for Canadian approval to be decades away. A diagnosis means you have to treat the patient. Better not to have a scanner handy. #Rationing.