MRI scans to get ten folds faster as Facebook collaborates with New York University (NYU) School of Medicine to spearhead a research project for the same using artificial intelligence (AI).

Facebook AI Research (FAIR) group and NYU’s Radiology department will explore the use of AI in accelerating the development of MR images, as part of the ‘fastMRI’ alliance.

With AI, the collaborators aim to reduce the 15-20 mins scanning time by catching lesser data during the scan.

 “Using AI, it may be possible to capture less data and therefore scan faster, while preserving or even enhancing the rich information content of magnetic resonance images. The key is to train artificial neural networks to recognize the underlying structure of the images in order to fill in views omitted from the accelerated scan,” mentioned Facebook in a statement.

Facebook will gain access to the university’s images of three million MRI scans of the knee, brain and liver, owing to their alliance. Algorithms will be built based on this data from 10,000 clinical cases.

Both allies wish to open-source their project to allow other scientists to imitate and bring out new findings.

NYU imaging specialist Dan Sodickson said, “The benefits of this are really dramatic in the real world. If we can get it fast enough to replace X-rays or CT then we can also reduce radiation exposure for the population while still getting the critical medical information.”