Cervical Spine MRI on a RF Shielding-Free 0.05T MRI Scanner

Motivation: To develop low-cost and patient-friendly MRI scanners to address global healthcare disparities. Goal(s): To demonstrate cervical spine (C-spine) MRI on a low-cost and RF shielding-free 0.05T MRI scanner. Approach: Typical imaging protocols were implemented on a newly developed 0.05T MRI scanner. The scanner is compact, RF shielding-free, and acoustically quiet during scanning. Further, a deep learning electromagnetic interference (EMI) elimination method and a data-driven reconstruction strategy were designed. Results: The deep learning EMI elimination method effectively removed EMI noise, and the data driven reconstruction method suppressed image noise and artifacts while increasing spatial resolution, leading to significantly improved image quality. Impact: We demonstrate high-quality C-spine MRI on a low-cost and shielding-free 0.05T MRI scanner through exploiting computing power and extensive high-field MRI data. These developments will lead to a new generation of affordable, patient-centric, and computing-powered MRI scanners.