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OHSU expert weighs ethical issues of portable MRI

New technology has pros and cons; experts examining concerns before technology comes to patients
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Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D., wears a light blue patterned dress shirt and glasses, has light brown curly hair, smiling on the VA/OHSU bridge at OHSU. New portable MRI technology has the potential to enhance research and clinical care in underserved areas, but must be developed with careful attention to ethical, privacy, and safety concerns, according to study lead author Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)
New portable MRI technology has the potential to enhance research and clinical care in underserved areas, but must be developed with careful attention to ethical, privacy, and safety concerns, according to study lead author Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)

New portable MRI technology now under development promises to expand opportunities for research and clinical treatment to rural areas and among historically underserved populations.

However, those opportunities must be carefully balanced against privacy and safety concerns, according to a neurologist and ethics expert from Oregon Health & Science University, co-writing today in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.

Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D., wears a light blue patterned dress shirt and glasses, has light brown curly hair, smiling in a garden area of the VA Hospital. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)
Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D. (OHSU)

“It’s going to radically change the availability of MRI treatment and research,” said lead author Eran Klein, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine. “All technology comes with pros and cons. It’s a matter of figuring out how to mitigate the harms so that all effected populations can reap the benefits.”

Klein is among the co-authors of a symposium of nine articles published in a theme issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, “Emerging Portable Technology for Neuroimaging Research in New Field Setting: Legal & Ethical Challenges.” Today’s publication is the culmination of the group’s work to guide the use of portable magnetic resonance imaging, or pMRI, technology now under development.

The compendium was funded by the BRAIN Initiative of the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about innovative neurological procedures at OHSU.

In his piece, Klein focuses on the ethical considerations about research representation and dementia-friendly technology. The new portable technology will change and expand the availability of MRI treatment and research for historically underrepresented communities, including in rural areas and among people in cities who may not have the time or transportation to easily get to research centers like OHSU.

It’s a rare opportunity to think through access and safety issues before the technology arrives, Klein said.

“Thinking about the ethical issues doesn’t mean shutting the door on the technology,” he said. “It’s trying to shape how it’s developed and implemented.”

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