FDA Approves Siemens Healthineers 0.55T MRI Scanner

Siemens Healthineers announced Tuesday it has received U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for its 0.55T MAGENTOM Free.Max 80 cm MR Scanner.

This scanner is the company’s smallest and most lightweight, according to a company statement. As a High-V MR scanner, its 0.55T field strength combined with deep learning and advanced image processing not only make it useful across a wide range of clinical application, but as the first and only 80-cm bore, it can accommodate extremely obese or claustrophobic patients.

Credit: Siemens Healthineers

“Siemens Healthineers is proud to offer the MAGNETOM Free.Max, which brings MR to new clinical fields with innovative digital technology, new siting features, and image quality that was once realized only at higher field strengths,” said Jane Kilkenny, vice president of magnetic resonance at Siemens Healthineers North America. “The scanner’s comparatively low weight and size can open the door to MR utilization in orthopedic centers, emergency rooms, outpatient centers, and even intensive care units.”

The whole-body scanner itself weighs less than 3.5 tons, is less than 80 inches high, meaning it can be installed in areas that could not previously house a scanner with few structural modifications. Additionally, it uses less than 1 liter of helium with no need for a quench pipe for cooling.

According to company data, the scanner employs two image processing and artificial intelligence workflow innovations. Deep Resolve performs targeted de-noising and delivers higher-quality, higher-resolution images, and myExam Companion uses artificial intelligence to help users of all experience levels produce consistently high-quality images.

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