Swedish researchers shorten MRI scans to nearly a minute

Medical researchers based at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have cut the time it takes to perform a full Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan to a little over a minute. Tim Sprenger and Stefan Skare developed 5,000 lines of code and combined Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI) and MRI scans into one method (EPI-mix).

A traditional MRI scan requires different types of imaging. The procedure requires the patient to be still for about seven minutes for each image, with the entire process taking about 30 minutes to an hour. With EPI-mix technology, the scientists created a method to cut down the time to complete a full MRI scan to 70 seconds. Last year, Skare and his team released a video of 30 volunteers getting scanned in less than an hour.

Although the results are slightly unclear when compared to full-fledged MRI scans, they can be utilized by doctors for early detection and diagnosis, said Anna Falk Delgado, a radiology expert.