Low-Field MRI Reduces Cost and Environmental Impact While Maintaining Diagnostic Performance in Resource-Limited Settings: A Narrative Review With Cardiovascular Focus
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Radiology, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA
- 2Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- 3Department of Radiology, Islamabad Diagnostic Center, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- 4Department of Radiology, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- 5Montreal Institute of Technology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- 6School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, UK
- 7NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Abstract
High-field MRI (1.5–3 T) delivers excellent images but requires costly, energy-intensive infrastructure. Emerging low-field systems (<1 T) cut equipment and operating costs and consume far less power, making them attractive for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a narrative review of human studies from LMICs that reported clinical, economic or environmental outcomes of low-field MRI, paying special attention to cardiovascular applications and implementation issues in Pakistan. Across included papers, low-field scanners lowered capital expenditure, energy consumption and siting requirements while maintaining diagnostic performance comparable to high-field units in several settings, notably musculoskeletal imaging and intra-operative guidance. Evidence for cardiovascular imaging remains scarce, and key barriers—lower spatial resolution, limited local expertise and infrastructure gaps—persist. Nonetheless, low-field MRI offers Pakistan a feasible, environmentally sustainable option for clinical imaging more broadly; direct evidence for cardiovascular applications, however, remains limited and largely indirect, so routine cardiovascular use will require dedicated validation and further technical refinement before it can be recommended.
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BibTeX
@article{tran2026lowfield,
title = {{Low-Field MRI Reduces Cost and Environmental Impact While Maintaining Diagnostic Performance in Resource-Limited Settings: A Narrative Review With Cardiovascular Focus}},
author = {Caitlyn Tran and Michael Chang and Shankar Thiru and Nicole Sanchez and Madiha Janjua and Saria Rajpoot and Hassan Saleem and Ahmed Marey and Haile Kassahun and Sola Adeleke and Muhammad Umair},
journal = {Inquiry: A Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1177/00469580261484300},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580261484300},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Low-Field MRI Reduces Cost and Environmental Impact While Maintaining Diagnostic Performance in Resource-Limited Settings: A Narrative Review With Cardiovascular Focus
AU - Caitlyn Tran
AU - Michael Chang
AU - Shankar Thiru
AU - Nicole Sanchez
AU - Madiha Janjua
AU - Saria Rajpoot
AU - Hassan Saleem
AU - Ahmed Marey
AU - Haile Kassahun
AU - Sola Adeleke
AU - Muhammad Umair
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Inquiry: A Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing
DO - 10.1177/00469580261484300
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580261484300
AB - High-field MRI (1.5–3 T) delivers excellent images but requires costly, energy-intensive infrastructure. Emerging low-field systems (<1 T) cut equipment and operating costs and consume far less power, making them attractive for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a narrative review of human studies from LMICs that reported clinical, economic or environmental outcomes of low-field MRI, paying special attention to cardiovascular applications and implementation issues in Pakistan. Across included papers, low-field scanners lowered capital expenditure, energy consumption and siting requirements while maintaining diagnostic performance comparable to high-field units in several settings, notably musculoskeletal imaging and intra-operative guidance. Evidence for cardiovascular imaging remains scarce, and key barriers—lower spatial resolution, limited local expertise and infrastructure gaps—persist. Nonetheless, low-field MRI offers Pakistan a feasible, environmentally sustainable option for clinical imaging more broadly; direct evidence for cardiovascular applications, however, remains limited and largely indirect, so routine cardiovascular use will require dedicated validation and further technical refinement before it can be recommended.
SN - 0046-9580
SN - 1945-7243
ER -