Frog Designs A Life-Saving MRI Machine For Newborns
Aspect Imaging, in partnership with the design consultancy Frog, has created a new MRI machine designed with newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of hospitals in mind. Because the system can safely be placed inside the NICU, the new machine dramatically decreases the time and preparation involved in a typical MRI.
17 August 2016
| Lacey Glave
|
via
Fast Co.Design
Aspect Imaging, in partnership with the design consultancy Frog, has created a new MRI machine designed with newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of hospitals in mind.
Because the system can safely be placed inside the NICU, the new machine dramatically decreases the time and preparation involved in a typical MRI.
Because the system can safely be placed inside the NICU, the new machine dramatically decreases the time and preparation involved in a typical MRI.
"It's baby-centered design," says James Luther, a designer at frog who was the creative director for Aspect Imaging's Embrace Neonatal MRI. "We got to be the advocate of the newborn in this case. They don’t have much of a voice."
MRI systems are typically located in the basements of hospitals, Luther explained, because the location is better suited to the MRI's immense weight. Because they're so big and attract anything with metal, hospitals often have to build safety shields around them and put them in a structurally isolated area.
This can be a problem for newborns in fragile conditions, whom nurses and doctors try to handle as little as possible. Just the preparation for the MRI can be dangerous.
Aspect Imaging's MRI contains a completely shielded permanent magnet, which means it doesn't need a traditional safety zone and can reside near other hospital equipment.
It's much smaller than traditional MRIs because its built specifically for newborns (the company also has other dedicated MRIs, for wrists and heads), and is a fraction of the cost. Frog stepped in to design a machine that would make the best use of the technology.
MRI systems are typically located in the basements of hospitals, Luther explained, because the location is better suited to the MRI's immense weight. Because they're so big and attract anything with metal, hospitals often have to build safety shields around them and put them in a structurally isolated area.
This can be a problem for newborns in fragile conditions, whom nurses and doctors try to handle as little as possible. Just the preparation for the MRI can be dangerous.
Aspect Imaging's MRI contains a completely shielded permanent magnet, which means it doesn't need a traditional safety zone and can reside near other hospital equipment.
It's much smaller than traditional MRIs because its built specifically for newborns (the company also has other dedicated MRIs, for wrists and heads), and is a fraction of the cost. Frog stepped in to design a machine that would make the best use of the technology.
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