Purdue startup hopes to enhance MRI with coin-sized device
A Purdue University-affiliated startup—MR-Link—is developing a coin-sized device that researchers hope will allow medical professionals to perform multiple scans at once, according to a Purdue research foundation release.
“The goal of our company is to provide a tool which can help researchers and doctors better understand the different physiologies of the human body,” said Ranajay Mandal, a graduate student in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering in West Lafayette, Indiana.
“What we’ve developed is a very small, coin-sized device that can be safely used in an MRI system to enable all other imaging technologies. The device is very powerful and allows researchers to record, stimulate and image the brain or other organs all through the MRI system. This way the patient can be monitored for more than one thing at a time and the doctor can obtain much more information all at once,” he said in the release.
The device works simultaneously with MRI to record electro-physiological signals and can learn when to start and stop recording to obtain useful MRI signals, according to the news brief.
Nishant Babaria, a graduate student in the school of electrical and computer engineering also co-founded the startup, and says the group expects the device to cost “a few thousand dollars”—making its affordability a significant asset.
Currently, the company has created its first working device and is looking to enter the research market before moving into clinical markets.
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Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.