Siemens Healthineers has announced U.S. FDA clearance of the MAGNETOM Free.Star, the company’s whole-body magnetic resonance (MR) scanner designed to help improve patient access to MRI.
The second scanner on the High-V MR platform following the MAGNETOM Free.Max, the MAGNETOM Free.Star has a 60 cm patient bore and combines a 0.55 Tesla field strength with deep learning technologies and advanced image processing.
The Magnetom Free.Star is the company’s smallest MR scanner, at 3.3 tons and less than 80 inches high. Moreover, it requires less than 1 liter of liquid helium and no quench pipe, contributing to reduced infrastructure and lifecycle costs.
The scanner’s reduced energy consumption contributes to a reduction in total lifecycle costs of more than 30% compared to conventional scanners, the company says. Deep Resolve algorithms perform targeted denoising and employ deep learning to deliver sharp, high-resolution images, elevating image quality to a level previously achievable only using MR scanners with much higher field strengths. The myExam Companion workflow solution leverages artificial intelligence to help the user conduct a more efficient patient examination.
“Siemens Healthineers believes that patients everywhere deserve access to magnetic resonance imaging and its unique benefits,” says Jane Kilkenny, vice president of MR at Siemens Healthineers North America. “The MAGNETOM Free.Star is further proof of our steadfast commitment to providing customers with MRI 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.”