I-Corps: High Risk Patient Monitoring during Magnetic Resonance Imaging

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

Over 800,000 people in the US experience a stroke each year according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a majority of which is severe enough to disqualify them from receiving the advanced diagnostic standard set forth by modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), primarily due to the inability to accurately monitor patient conditions while they are inside an MRI scanner present with strong magnetic fields. This in turn degrades the ability of the overseeing physician to properly diagnose, as those high-risk patients are excluded from MRI diagnosis and follow-up treatments. This I-Corps team's proposed technology is a patient monitor which allows for continuous high quality monitoring of patient conditions during MRI scans, permitting high-risk patients to benefit from MRI for diagnostic scans and MRI image-guided treatments. For clinicians, the risk in performing new MR imaging and image-guided procedures will be greatly reduced through this product. For hospitals, MRI scanner, and life support manufacturers, their services can be expanded to a new patient group that was previously ineligible for MRI, allowing for a competitive advantage. For patients, they can access and receive a higher quality of diagnostic care, with a larger potential for the emergence of advanced diagnostic and functional MR imaging, and MRI image-guided treatments which may become new standards for patient care. MRI-compatible systems are those deemed safe for operation within the MRI scanner; typically non-magnetic, minimally conductive, and robust against the strong and rapidly switched magnetic fields present within the MRI scanner. The proposed product will be a high-fidelity, MRI-compatible 12-lead Electrocardiogram (ECG) recording system, capable of monitoring high-risk patients (e.g. being sedated and intubated), as well as low- to med-risk patients, who may require an extended MR imaging session, in which they would remain unattended within the MRI scanner. The product provides real-time diagnostic quality monitoring, previously unavailable using current technologies, while not compromising the operation and diagnostic ability of the MRI scanner. This product could greatly improve the state of patient monitoring in the MRI, which is critical for severely-ill patients, and subsequently the state of patient healthcare.