7 ms·

Why do these magnets matter so much, and what about them will enable new business models/market segments?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
RandallBrown 2y ago
I think the magnets are much stronger and cheaper, which will make MRI machines much cheaper, allowing more uses that wouldn't have been economical before. If they were cheap enough your local urgent care could have you get one every time you twist your ankle or whatever.
- TheJoeMan 2y ago
  The issue is not cost, the issue is regulatory capture has enabled hospitals to forbid your business from acquiring “competing” machines through requiring Certificates of Need. Ex. https://abc11.com/mri-lawsuit-costs-health-care-dr-gajendra-singh/5611598/ https://abc11.com/mri-lawsuit-costs-health-care-dr-gajendra-...
  - msie 2y ago
    So awful! Why don't they have a CON for x-rays then? Or other machines?
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    In places in the world where those rules don’t apply, access and cost is still problematic. There is a lack of staff, the hardware is expensive and the bill payers (insurance and national health services) don’t really want everything scanned all the time.
  - EnigmaFlare 2y ago
    That can't be the reason. Not all states have CON, and they're not pure regulatory capture. From TFA: "Competition is a good thing except when one of the competitors is free from the onus of being required to service everyone who walks through the door." "states that have repealed CON laws have had other consequences, including doctors over-prescribing services because they're being forced to maintain a bottom line." Also, other countries exist.
- copperx 2y ago
  > If they were cheap enough your local urgent care could have you get one every time you twist your ankle or whatever. More importantly, if MRIs were as cheap as X-Rays are, they could revolutionize early cancer detection, especially when paired with AI. The problem is that even if they are cheap, they are slow. And radiologists aren't scalable.
- Xcelerate 2y ago
  I find MRI machines absolutely fascinating. If I was mega-wealthy, I would have one at my house to perform independent research with. Even the math involved in the inverse problem of how images are constructed from the raw signals is super interesting. I agree with you that these should be all over the place; I think they would be a great boon for preventative medicine.
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    Have a read about what happens - the Kardashian Whole Body scan is still in the news. It’s not as good as one would hope. False positive cause misery.
    - Xcelerate 2y ago
      Yeah, but the false positives are a separate issue to solve. That would be like saying the introduction of the car has led to thousands of deaths by automobile — accurate, but not the whole story of why we keep them around.
      - pixl97 2y ago
        You're missing another category. True, but not serious, positives. Take the following example. Right now in your brain you have a small cancerous lesion. If you don't know about it, your body will heal it and you'll never know that you had it. But, if I show you a picture of it, suddenly you're filled with stress chemicals causing your immune system to work poorly. The cancer grows into outwardly detectable illness. You now require treatment for a deadly illness.
    - itishappy 2y ago
      Real positives aren't much better! A friend of mine worked with an MRI researcher and therefore had an opportunity to undergo a number of elective MRIs for free. They consistently turned up minor issues (labral tears, bone spurs, etc.), even in body parts that he assumed were perfectly healthy. Bodies are complicated, and we can compensate a surprising amount before things become an problematic. Learning about all of these isn't always helpful, and can actually cause harm (e.g. stress) once made aware.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

I think the magnets are much stronger and cheaper, which will make MRI machines much cheaper, allowing more uses that wouldn't have been economical before. If they were cheap enough your local urgent care could have you get one every time you twist your ankle or whatever.

TheJoeMan 2y ago
The issue is not cost, the issue is regulatory capture has enabled hospitals to forbid your business from acquiring “competing” machines through requiring Certificates of Need. Ex. https://abc11.com/mri-lawsuit-costs-health-care-dr-gajendra-singh/5611598/ https://abc11.com/mri-lawsuit-costs-health-care-dr-gajendra-...
- msie 2y ago
  So awful! Why don't they have a CON for x-rays then? Or other machines?
- lostlogin 2y ago
  In places in the world where those rules don’t apply, access and cost is still problematic. There is a lack of staff, the hardware is expensive and the bill payers (insurance and national health services) don’t really want everything scanned all the time.
- EnigmaFlare 2y ago
  That can't be the reason. Not all states have CON, and they're not pure regulatory capture. From TFA: "Competition is a good thing except when one of the competitors is free from the onus of being required to service everyone who walks through the door." "states that have repealed CON laws have had other consequences, including doctors over-prescribing services because they're being forced to maintain a bottom line." Also, other countries exist.
copperx 2y ago
> If they were cheap enough your local urgent care could have you get one every time you twist your ankle or whatever. More importantly, if MRIs were as cheap as X-Rays are, they could revolutionize early cancer detection, especially when paired with AI. The problem is that even if they are cheap, they are slow. And radiologists aren't scalable.
Xcelerate 2y ago
I find MRI machines absolutely fascinating. If I was mega-wealthy, I would have one at my house to perform independent research with. Even the math involved in the inverse problem of how images are constructed from the raw signals is super interesting. I agree with you that these should be all over the place; I think they would be a great boon for preventative medicine.
- lostlogin 2y ago
  Have a read about what happens - the Kardashian Whole Body scan is still in the news. It’s not as good as one would hope. False positive cause misery.
  - Xcelerate 2y ago
    Yeah, but the false positives are a separate issue to solve. That would be like saying the introduction of the car has led to thousands of deaths by automobile — accurate, but not the whole story of why we keep them around.
    - pixl97 2y ago
      You're missing another category. True, but not serious, positives. Take the following example. Right now in your brain you have a small cancerous lesion. If you don't know about it, your body will heal it and you'll never know that you had it. But, if I show you a picture of it, suddenly you're filled with stress chemicals causing your immune system to work poorly. The cancer grows into outwardly detectable illness. You now require treatment for a deadly illness.
  - itishappy 2y ago
    Real positives aren't much better! A friend of mine worked with an MRI researcher and therefore had an opportunity to undergo a number of elective MRIs for free. They consistently turned up minor issues (labral tears, bone spurs, etc.), even in body parts that he assumed were perfectly healthy. Bodies are complicated, and we can compensate a surprising amount before things become an problematic. Learning about all of these isn't always helpful, and can actually cause harm (e.g. stress) once made aware.