Neuroimaging access in Chad: Infrastructure barriers and opportunities for accessible magnetic resonance imaging
- 1Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
Abstract
Limited access to neuroimaging remains a major constraint on neurological care in many low-resource areas. We conducted a descriptive landscape analysis of neuroimaging access in Chad using hospital-reported data, publicly available healthcare and infrastructure data, and contextual information from clinicians and radiology personnel at major hospitals in NDjamena. This analysis characterizes key constraints on neuroimaging access in Chad and highlights practical considerations for expanding imaging capacity in resource-limited settings. Chad has only one magnetic resonance imaging scanner for a population of approximately twenty-one million. The countrys major hospitals and imaging workforce are concentrated in the capital, and the sole MRI system is an older 0.35 T scanner located at a private hospital. Access is further limited by scan cost, geographic centralization, unreliable electricity, limited technical support, and shortages of trained imaging personnel. Hospital data indicate a substantial burden of neurological conditions, particularly stroke and neurological infections, for which imaging can be important for diagnosis and management. We place these findings in the context of emerging lower-cost, compact, and mobile magnetic resonance imaging technologies. Such systems may reduce some infrastructure and siting requirements, but limitations related to image quality, maintenance, workforce capacity, and long-term sustainability remain important considerations.
Related
- Opportunities to Address Barriers to Enrollment in Food is Medicine Programs: Lessons Learned From the SUPeRFOOD Trial
- Microenvironmental barriers to healing in osteoradionecrosis and opportunities for regenerative intervention.
- Barriers and opportunities to addressing social determinants of malaria in Wakiso District, Uganda
- Opportunities and barriers in health education and community awareness program: a qualitative study from Indian tertiary care teaching hospital.
- Clinically Accessible Phenotypes Refine Cardiovascular Risk Stratification Beyond Contemporary Clinical Equations
BibTeX
@misc{hissein2026neuroimaging,
title = {{Neuroimaging access in Chad: Infrastructure barriers and opportunities for accessible magnetic resonance imaging}},
author = {I. Hissein and J. Yao and F. Sakadi and E. Bedingar and M. Zhao and A. J. W. van der Kouwe and J. L. Ackerman},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.10.26362077},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.26362077v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Neuroimaging access in Chad: Infrastructure barriers and opportunities for accessible magnetic resonance imaging
AU - I. Hissein
AU - J. Yao
AU - F. Sakadi
AU - E. Bedingar
AU - M. Zhao
AU - A. J. W. van der Kouwe
AU - J. L. Ackerman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.10.26362077
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.10.26362077v1
AB - Limited access to neuroimaging remains a major constraint on neurological care in many low-resource areas. We conducted a descriptive landscape analysis of neuroimaging access in Chad using hospital-reported data, publicly available healthcare and infrastructure data, and contextual information from clinicians and radiology personnel at major hospitals in NDjamena. This analysis characterizes key constraints on neuroimaging access in Chad and highlights practical considerations for expanding imaging capacity in resource-limited settings. Chad has only one magnetic resonance imaging scanner for a population of approximately twenty-one million. The countrys major hospitals and imaging workforce are concentrated in the capital, and the sole MRI system is an older 0.35 T scanner located at a private hospital. Access is further limited by scan cost, geographic centralization, unreliable electricity, limited technical support, and shortages of trained imaging personnel. Hospital data indicate a substantial burden of neurological conditions, particularly stroke and neurological infections, for which imaging can be important for diagnosis and management. We place these findings in the context of emerging lower-cost, compact, and mobile magnetic resonance imaging technologies. Such systems may reduce some infrastructure and siting requirements, but limitations related to image quality, maintenance, workforce capacity, and long-term sustainability remain important considerations.
ER -