Christ Hospital debuts new technology: Portable MRI machine

This is not your uncle’s MRI machine.

CarePoint Health has recently adopted groundbreaking portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology at Christ Hospital in Jersey City that makes the tests accessible to nearly any patient — in their own hospital bed.

CarePoint, which also operates Hoboken University Medical Center and Bayonne Medical Center, is the first hospital system in Hudson County to use this new technology.

Called “Swoop,” the world’s first point-of-care MR imaging system wheels directly to a patient, plugs into a standard electrical wall outlet and is controlled through a wireless tablet. Clinicians quickly capture images at the patient’s bedside, enabling critical decision-making when time matters, hospital officials said.

The Swoop system will be deployed in the Intensive Care Unit at Christ Hospital for Stroke and Neuro-Interventional Care.

“We are so excited to be able to provide this cutting-edge diagnostic technology to Christ Hospital to improve patient outcomes and further increase our high standard of care,” said said CarePoint Health President and CEO Dr. Achintya Moulick.

“Being able to bring imaging technology directly to a patient’s bedside, regardless of where they are in the hospital, will give our patients and their families a higher level of comfort and convenience in stressful circumstances while also providing our doctors with fast, reliable diagnostic tests during the most critical moments.”

Traditional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the body’s internal structures, but fixed conventional MRI systems can be inconvenient and inaccessible for providers and patients.

The new technology eliminates the burdensome and complicated chores of scheduling, moving patients, and often lengthy patient backlogs.

“What matters most to us at Christ Hospital is making sure every single one of our patients receives equal, quality, and top-of-the-line care when they visit our hospital and the Swoop MRI system will take us a step further by offering the latest innovation in safe, convenient, and easy-to-access technology,” Chief Hospital Executive Marie Duffy said.

“Swoop represents a major win for our community and for patients throughout Hudson County, and it will help build on the success Christ Hospital has already achieved in advancing Stroke Care. … The precious moments that this new device will save for stroke patients will help them get the proper treatment sooner and begin their road to recovery with a head start, leading to improved patient outcomes.”

Christ Hospital has been nationally recognized for its treatment of stroke patients.

The Hyperfine Swoop Portable MR Imaging System, cleared by the FDA, has been recognized by leading organizations, including the American College of Emergency Physicians, Frost & Sullivan, and Aunt Minnie (a leading voice in radiology), as one of the most innovative diagnostic technologies available today.