Aspect Imaging

Bringing Newborn Technology To Life

ā€œHaving a (MRI) system in the neonatal intensive care unit enables safer imaging for this vulnerable patient population.ā€
Vasum Peiris, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer for Pediatrics and Special Populations at FDAā€™s Center for Devices and Radiological Health
Aspect Imaging partnered with frog to realize Embraceā„¢ , a ā€˜baby-centeredā€™ Neonatal MRI designed for premature infants and the medical teams who care for them. The innovative system can be placed directly within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), vastly reducing the transport and preparation time normally required to scan fragile infants.
Designing with Experts
Healthcare innovation requires both insight and medical expertise. The frog team spent hundreds of hours in hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICU) engaging nurses, neonatologists, radiologists and hospital staff to understand the care pathway, to ideate together with medical professionals and to test prototypes in a clinical setting.
De-risking the journey
The potential dangers of MRI magnetic fields require systems to be centralized within a protected area. From preparation to scanning and return, the voyage from the NICU to the MRI and back can require hours. Because Embraceā„¢ contains stray magnetic fields within the magnet, it may be placed directly within a NICU ā€“ avoiding the long journey and reducing required time, discomfort and risk.
Baby-Centered Design
The Embraceā„¢ shielded magnet and compact footprint allows it to be placed directly within a NICU. Each step of the workflow was carefully considered, tested and refined to meet the needs of infants and the medical teams who care for them. The result makes it safer and faster to scan newborns more frequently in their critical first days.
Defining a Category
By combining a unique technical innovation, the shielded MRI magnet, with an important use case and world-class design, Aspect Imaging has successfully created a new product category and market opportunity. With the July 2017 FDA approval of Embraceā„¢, the company enters an exciting phase of commercial possibilities.
February 2013
Contextual research on a first-of-its-kind neonatal MRI machine begins with multi-disciplinary frog teams immersed in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Europe and the US.
July 2017
The Embraceā„¢ Neonatal System is cleared by the FDA as the first MRI device specifically for neonatal brain and head imaging in the NICU. Aspect Imaging installs the worldā€™s first system in Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
September 2018
Aspect Imaging installs a second Embraceā„¢ at Brigham and Womenā€™s Hospital in Boston, becoming the first FDA-approved NICU-dedicated MRI system in the US.
Together, frog and Aspect Imaging have pioneered an entirely new category in the MRI market, one that prioritizes the needs of the most vulnerable patients to revolutionize the imaging experience. By merging science and creativity through human-centered design processes, the team designed the worldā€™s first MRI machine specifically for safer newborn care, and have set a new standard for medical imaging products.
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