Abstract
Since the discovery of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an imaging modality, it
has evolved immensely and is still doing so. Most imaging modalities have made bedside
or emergency imaging possible due to their portability. This aspect is yet to be fully
evaluated and established in the case of MRI as its high-field strength requires specialized
infrastructure and its time-consuming nature makes its portability questionable. The
goal of this review is to access the efficiency and feasibility of low-field portable
MRI (pMRI) systems in a wide array of health care applications. Articles from indexed
journals, on PubMed, Springer, Elsevier, etc. databases, relevant to this study were
searched and reviewed. This review provides an atypical design that could be used
in making a pMRI unit that could find its potential in diagnosing a wide variety of
pathologies with an added advantage of imaging critical patients in the intensive
care unit or patients in isolation due to its portability, imaging patients with implants
or prosthesis effectively due to its low field, pediatric imaging due to its high
speed, for guided interventions, imaging obese and claustrophobic patients due to
its open nature, in dental imaging, extremity scanning, etc. With its vast spectrum
of applications in the health care system, the future of low-field pMRI units seems
to be bright.
Keywords bedside imaging - extremity MR imaging - low-field MRI - magnetic resonance imaging
- portable MRI
