Voxelgrids, an offshoot of India’s Tata Trusts Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, announced June 7 its latest development: a lightweight, portable MRI scanner that could cut imaging costs in half across the country.
The machine, which was created in 24 months, will produce 1.5-Tesla MRI scans three to four times faster than standard models, the Economic Times reported. Its compact nature also means it can be mounted on a vehicle and taken to even the most remote corners of India.
Ratan N. Tata, the chairman of Tata Trusts, told the Times the new MRI machine aims to address a series of limitations of current scanners, including slow imaging and inadequate scans of moving organs, like the heart.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship requires creativity, hard work and endurance to succeed,” Tata said. “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.”
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.