Scientists are turning to artificial intelligence to improve MRI scans

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is an advancement in MRI technology.

Researchers at Facebook and New York University have found a way to generate MRI scans four times faster without any loss of diagnostic accuracy, said Jeremy Kahn at Fortune​. The scientists fed an artificial intelligence model pairs of low-­resolution and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans, training the AI to "connect the dots" on scans generated using just a quarter of the usual input data.

MRI scans often take more than 30 minutes, and patients are required to remain still for the duration. ­Children — who tend to wriggle around in the tube — are often sedated to help doctors capture high-­quality images. By reducing the scanning time to mere minutes, the AI could make it easier to use MRIs on young patients and those suffering acute conditions such as strokes, "in which time is critical."

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