From the November 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Siemens smallest, lowest-cost MR scanner gets FDA OK
The FDA gave clearance to the MAGNETOM Free.Star whole-body MR scanner from Siemens Healthineers in July.
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The second system designed for the High-V MR platform, MAGNETOM Free.Star is the smallest, most lightweight scanner made by Siemens, as well as its most affordable MR scanner. It has a 0.55 Tesla field strength that, combined with deep learning technologies and advanced image processing, produces high-quality images.
The machine weighs 3.3 tons and is less than 80 inches high. It also requires less than one liter of liquid helium and has no quench pipe, reducing infrastructure and life cycle costs. “The MAGNETOM Free.Star is further proof of our steadfast commitment to providing customers with MR scanners that are more cost-effective, more easily operable, and more easily sited for installation at a wide variety of healthcare institutions across the United States.”
The reduced energy consumption in MAGNETOM Free.Star brings down total life cycle costs by more than 30% over conventional scanners, and its Deep Resolve algorithms perform targeted denoising and produce high-resolution images at a level only previously possible at higher field strengths.
The FDA clearance follows that of MAGNETOM Free.Max, a compact whole-body scanner weighing less than 3.5 tons, in July 2021. Like MAGNETOM Free.Star, it has a 0.55 Tesla field strength, uses less than one liter of helium and has no quench pipe.
Both also use Deep Resolve algorithms, as well as the myExam Companion workflow solution, which leverages AI to guide users of all experience levels through exams, regardless of patient or throughput. Because of their smaller infrastructures, both scanners can be installed in areas not previously accessible for MR, with minimal structural modifications required.
Steven Ford
Possible problems with this study
March 08, 2023 12:47
The study was partially sponsored by the manufacturer of the ultra low field MRI and some of the physicians were investors in that company. This alone does not mean that the study is invalid.
The study you cite DOES NOT show that the low field MRI is nearly as effective as high field MRI in diagnosing stroke. Most importantly, the patients imaged in the ULF scanner had already been diagnosed with a stroke before imaging a second time with the low field machine. A more rigorous study would use a double-blind process.
Secondly, some of the patients were previously imaged using CT, not MRI. This is the very definition of an apples to oranges comparison.
The MRI scanner in question has limited resolution compared with virtually every MRI in the USA, even 20-year old scanners. It cannot image very small tumors or bleeds.
Finally, the study states that about 80% of the strokes were correctly identified. A more accurate headline would be 'ULF MRI leads to correct diagnosis 80% of the time' or 'ULF MRI Better Than Nothing'. More critically but more accurately, 'ULF MRI is a Poor Alternative if You Have Another Choice'.
A more meaningful study would compare low-cost CT scans to the use of this innovative and clever scanner, because they are more readily available and less costly.
This study has anecdotal value.
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