Guilford, CT, Oct. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hyperfine has received a Best Practices Product Innovation award from Frost & Sullivan for the company’s category-defining portable MR imaging technology. Analysts from Frost & Sullivan, a leading growth strategy and research firm, describe the disruptive innovation as a “massive leap forward to democratizing MRI.” Hyperfine’s Swoop™ Portable MRI System is a point-of-care MR imaging device that wheels directly to the patient’s bedside, plugs into a standard electrical wall outlet, and is controlled through a wireless tablet, making MR imaging accessible and immediate.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field, radio waves, and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the body's internal structures that are clearer, more detailed, and more likely in some instances to identify and accurately characterize disease than other imaging methods. However, fixed MRI systems can be inconvenient and inaccessible for providers and patients, particularly when time is critical such as with stroke. Transport to the MR suite demands complicated scheduling coordination, moving patients, and, often, 4- to 6-hour patient backlogs – all which compromise the utility of MRI as a diagnostic tool in time-sensitive settings such as intensive care units and emergency rooms. Furthermore, high capital investments, electrical power needs, and significant maintenance requirements present barriers to adoption across all populations, acutely so for developing countries and rural geographies.
Hyperfine designed the Swoop™ system to address the limitations of current imaging technologies and make MRI accessible anytime, anywhere, to any patient. Swoop™ wheels directly to the patient’s bedside, plugs into a standard electrical wall outlet, and is controlled by an Apple iPad®. Images that display the internal structure of the head are captured at the patient’s bedside, with results in minutes, enabling critical decision-making capabilities across a variety of clinical settings, such as neurointensive care units, emergency departments, pediatrics, and ambulatory outpatient surgery centers and more. Designed as a complementary system to traditional MRIs, new users can be trained on system operation, device navigation and device safety in about 30 minutes, helping clinicians streamline workflow. The complete Hyperfine system costs less than the annual service contract alone for most current MRI systems.
“The global MRI market is on the brink of a new era as word of the once ‘mythical’ affordable and portable MRI spreads,” commented Poornima Srinivasan, Consultant at Frost & Sullivan. “With its groundbreaking design, Hyperfine’s portable MRI can extend access to cost-effective imaging and, subsequently, its clinical utility and healthcare value across medical applications, clinical specialties and settings, and geographical regions worldwide.”
“Nearly six years ago, we had a crazy vision to create a new product category for imaging: an affordable point-of-care MRI system. With our Swoop™ now readily available in the US, we are disrupting current practices by enabling bedside diagnostic neuroimages, proving particularly effective in time-critical indications like stroke and COVID,” said Jonathan Rothberg, PhD, founder and chairman of Hyperfine.
To see the full award report, click here.
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About Hyperfine Research
Hyperfine lives to make MR imaging available to everyone. The Swoop™ Portable MR Imaging System is the result of a total rethink of MR’s potential in the healthcare landscape. What if MR imaging didn’t require a dedicated suite, extensive training or expensive upkeep? Let’s use the wonders of high-field MRI for the appropriate patients, and deploy Swoop™ system at the point-of-care for everyone else. Hyperfine received market-ready FDA clearance for its portable MR imaging for the brain and head of patients of all ages in August 2020. Hyperfine is part of 4Catalyzer, a health technology incubator with facilities in CT, NY, CA and Taiwan. www.hyperfine.io.
About Frost & Sullivan
For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. The Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards have recognized exemplary achievements within a multitude of industries and functional disciplines for the last 19 years. Frost & Sullivan conducts best practices research to properly identify unmatched innovation and leadership among companies, products, processes, and executives. www.frost.com
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