Siemens’ Smallest, Most Lightweight MR Scanner Combining 0.55T Field Strength with AI Receives FDA Clearance

Siemens Healthineers (Erlangen, Germany) has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for the MAGNETOM Free.Max, its new High-V magnetic resonance (MR) scanner that combines a 0.55 Tesla (0.55T) field strength with deep learning technologies and advanced image processing.

By doing so, the scanner broadens the range of MR clinical applications and provides customers with the inherent clinical benefits of a mid-field MR scanner. The first and only 80 cm wide-bore system available, the MAGNETOM Free.Max also facilitates MR scanning for extremely obese and claustrophobic patients, enhancing the patient experience.

At less than 3.5 tons and less than 80 inches high, the MAGNETOM Free.Max is the most lightweight, compact whole-body scanner ever offered by Siemens. Its reduced size permits installation with minimal structural modifications. And where MR scanners typically require several hundred liters of helium and a quench pipe for cooling purposes, the new magnet of the MAGNETOM Free.Max uses less than one liter of helium, reducing lifecycle and infrastructure costs. For these reasons, the customer can install the MAGNETOM Free.Max in areas where an MR scanner could not be housed previously.

The MAGNETOM Free.Max leverages the company’s latest image processing and artificial intelligence workflow innovations. Deep Resolve is a set of algorithms that performs targeted denoising and uses deep learning to deliver sharper, higher-resolution images. myExam Companion, a comprehensive workflow solution that incorporates elements of artificial intelligence, helps the user navigate the examination to efficiently achieve consistent, high-quality results, regardless of user experience level, patient, or throughput.

“Siemens Healthineers is proud to offer the MAGNETOM Free.Max, which brings MR to new clinical fields with innovative digital technology, new siting features, and image quality that was once realized only at higher field strengths,” said Jane Kilkenny, Vice President of Magnetic Resonance at Siemens Healthineers North America. “The scanner’s comparatively low weight and size can open the door to MR utilization in orthopedic centers, emergency rooms, outpatient centers, and even intensive care units.”