Mixed-methods analysis demonstrates substantial carbon emission reductions with portable MRI in remote communities, highlighting its potential as a sustainable health-equity strategy.
Key Points
To comprehensively evaluate the environmental profile of an ultra-low-field portable MRI scanner compared to standard fixed MRI systems in remote healthcare settings.
Conducted a mixed-methods modeling analysis evaluating energy consumption, patient transportation emissions, and lifecycle waste generation.
Calculated travel-related greenhouse gas emissions between Weeneebayko General Hospital and Kingston Health Sciences Centre across commercial, charter, and air ambulance flights.
Compared portable MRI energy and waste profiles against published benchmarks for conventional 1.5 T and 3 T fixed scanners.
Portable MRI consumed 11.8–17.4-fold less energy per scan than fixed 1.5 T and 3 T scanners, generating approximately 0.065 t CO₂ annually for 100 scans.
Local imaging enabled 56% of patients to avoid inter-facility transfers, preventing an estimated 14.3 t CO₂ in annual flight emissions.
Eliminating liquid helium, reducing room shielding, and minimizing contrast agent waste averted an additional 5.4–9.8 t CO₂ over scanner lifecycles, yielding a total annual reduction of 19.7–24.3 t CO₂.