Revolutionizing MRI: exploring the cost-saving impact of helium-free technology in Canada - ON-1098

Project type: Research
Desired discipline(s): Epidemiology / Public health and policy, Life Sciences, Resources and environmental management, Natural Sciences, Economics, Social Sciences & Humanities
Company: Anonymous
Project Length: 6 months to 1 year
Preferred start date: 07/01/2025
Language requirement: English
Location(s): Toronto, ON, Canada
No. of positions: 1
Desired education level: PhD
Open to applicants registered at an institution outside of Canada: No

About the company: 

We're a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Our patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home.

Describe the project.: 

The majority of people living in Canada face significant barriers accesssing diagnostic imaging, especially those in rural and remote communities.

As a country, Canada ranks among the lowest globally in both the number of MRIs per capita and annual exams conducted.. High upfront costs, extensive hospital retrofits, and frequent downtime—both planned and unplanned—further limit availability.

Today, governments across Canada are investing heavily in the construction of new healthcare facilities and the retrofiting of existing ones (capital), as well as increasing the number of physcians to support the millions without a family doctor (operating). Now is the ideal time to highlight the value of this innovation in medical imaging and the potential for reducing direct healthcare costs, improving patient access, and ultimately health outcomes.

This project aims to a) quantify the avoided costs and savings of helim-free MRI technology, the potential benefit for domestic health system, and any challenges with adoptiing this innovation as the “standard of care”.

Overview:

- According to OECD data, Canadians have incredibly poor access to MRI imaging services compared to other nations. Canada ranks 28th of 33 countries in terms of # of units / population, and 21st of 28 countries in terms of # of exams conducted annually.
- Substantial upfront capital investments and ongoing operational costs factor into this lack of access, with conventional MRI installation requiring significant retrofits to hospital, as well as costly (un)scheduled stoppages leading to extended time offline.
- Making matters worse, based on CADTH’s 2022-23 Health Technology Review Canadian Medical Imaging Inventory, the average age of an MRI in Canada is estimated to be 8.4 years. On avergae, 28.9 hours/year are lost for planned downtime (4hrs to 120 hrs across 115 sites), and unplanned downtime lasts an average of 102.5 hours/year (1hr to 1,500 hrs across 103 sites).
- On the brighter side, MRI systems are in an era of transformational innovation, as numerous medtech companies launch new products, including ones that no longer require helium in their operations to cool magnets.

Methodologies:

- Our company is interested in working with researchers to access both the potential cost savings and challenges of helium-free MRI compared to conventional systems.
- Tasks include looking to:
o Direct costs: what costs occur upfront (e.g. retrofitting hosptial space, installing vent pipes); during regular operations (e.g. energy usage, planned maintenance, workflows), and when emergency shutdown is required (e.g. quenches, liquid helium replacement, other servicing & repairs, time offline).
o Indirect cost (to patients and their families, as well as provinces and healthcare providers): access to MRI scans, rural/remote Canada travel time, MRI systems weight and portability.

Phases of the project:
• Conduct a review of existing data / research related to existing magnets across country, confirming their location, their age, their reliability.
• Determine the costs associated with purchasing, installing, and operating each system across the country.
• Compare potential direct and indirect costs of helium-free systems vs conventional.

Required expertise/skills: 

We're looking for a PhD level applicant.