Initial experience with setting up an ultralow-field MRI system at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Modern high-field MRI systems (1.5T, 3T) have improved spatial resolution and can evaluate tissue microstructure and map tissue metabolites due to improved technology. However, their size, weight, power demands, and acquisition and maintenance costs make them largely inaccessible to healthcare institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Low-cost ultralow-field (ULF) portable MRI hardware technologies have been developed and deployed for clinical imaging applications and hold promise for addressing unmet healthcare and research needs in resource-poor countries. Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) received a Hyperfine Swoop ULF portable MRI system from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the larger ‘Ultralow-field Neuroimaging in the Young (UNITY) Project’. Between May 2022 and October 2025, we performed 467 scans, including research participants, quality assurance scans, and acutely ill children from the paediatric intensive care unit. We report our experience with setting up and operating this system, highlighting key aspects of installation, patient positioning, image storage, image quality, equipment cost, and MRI research capacity in a sub-Saharan African setting. Our experience demonstrates that a portable ULF MRI system can be installed and operated successfully in a sub-Saharan African teaching hospital with minimal infrastructure and a modest training period, supporting its ability to improve access to neuroimaging in similar resource-limited settings.