New AI-enabled, helium-free MRI system earns FDA clearance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has officially cleared Siemens Healthineers’ latest “helium-free” MRI scanner.
The healthcare giant announced the clearance of its Magnetom Flow.Ace—a 1.5 tesla MRI scanner—on Thursday. The clearance marks Siemens Healthineers’ second helium-free system to go to market, following the 2021 clearance of its 0.55T Magnetom Free scanner.
The unit is the first from Siemens that also can be used in veterinary settings. Its AI-enabled workflows and image reconstruction reduce scan times, making it an optimal solution for quick, diagnostic quality exams. The Deep Resolve reconstruction technology accelerates image acquisition, reduces noise and improves the sharpness of small structures.
“With the FDA clearance of the Magnetom Flow.Ace, Siemens Healthineers is pleased to introduce our first helium-free 1.5T MR scanner,” Katie Grant, head of magnetic resonance at Siemens Healthineers North America, said in an announcement. “This 60 cm bore system is also available for veterinarians, with the same intelligent, high-end technology that we’ve offered to the general imaging community, at a highly attractive total cost of ownership.”
The Flow.Ace unit has a closed helium circuit and no quench pipe, which significantly reduces its reliance on helium for cooling (no systems are 100% helium-free). Thanks to the system’s DryCool technology, it requires just 0.7 liters of liquid helium for cooling—a fraction of the more than 1,500 liters standard systems need to operate safely.
What’s more, its compact size helps reduce energy consumption by more than 30% compared to standard units. This not only cuts costs but helps to preserve a valuable nonrenewable resource.
The approval comes amid ongoing concern of a potential helium shortage in the future. Many vendors have made moves to reduce their reliance on the natural resource under the assumption it may not be as readily available as it has been in the past. Although this has been going on for a decade or more, news cycles on the subject in recent years have appeared to have an added sense of urgency. This is due to a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating political tensions in regions responsible for large portion’s of the world’s helium supply.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.