Frequently asked questions from patients

The Swoop system design ensures low risk to the operator, patient, and nearby medical staff or family members. The Swoop system is FDA-cleared for use in patients of all ages.

The MRI examination is entirely noninvasive (no incisions are required). While some patients may experience claustrophobia, anxiety, or minor discomfort, Hyperfine, Inc. designed the Swoop portable MR brain imaging system to minimize the occurrence of these conditions.

Yes. That’s one of the best things about the Swoop system! Loved ones can remain right at the patient’s bedside.

The patient only needs to remove items on or around the head and neck, including jewelry (earrings, necklaces, hair accessories, headphones, earbuds, etcetera).

Noise from the Swoop system is substantially lower than what you hear in a conventional MRI system. And, because noise levels are low, hearing protection is optional for the patient. 

After the Swoop system is set up at your bedside, you will stay in your bed the entire time with your head resting in the transparent ‘helmet’ inside the Swoop system. Vibrations will produce rhythmic tones as the system acquires images during the scan. 

After reviewing the MR images, a doctor will discuss the results with you and recommend the next steps.

Yes. The Swoop system is FDA-cleared for all age groups, including babies and children. And, because of the open design and lower magnetic field of the Swoop portable MR brain imaging system, parents or another family member can stay right at the child’s bedside. 

The Swoop system has been tested and is safe to use near other hospital machines, such as monitoring equipment and infusion pumps, located outside of the system’s magnetic field.

Conventional MRI systems use extremely large, powerful magnets and can only be used in a fixed location. Both conventional MRI scanners and the Swoop system use magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of internal body organs. The Swoop system uses a relatively small lower-field magnet and can move around a hospital as needed. Even with its portable form factor and smaller magnet, the Swoop system can produce diagnostically acceptable images that help doctors diagnose abnormalities, injuries, infections, or diseases.

Billing codes for using the Swoop system are the same as those used for any MR imaging of the brain:

• Code: CPT 70551
• Swoop system scans are reimbursed using CPT 70551 (MRI Brain without contrast). Global (technical + professional) reimbursement can be obtained if a radiology report is generated.
• Description: Magnetic resonance (e.g., proton) imaging, brain (including brain stem); without contrast material

Medicare approves specific MRI procedures, not vendor-specific MRI systems. FDA-cleared for brain imaging without contrast, scans with the Swoop system are reimbursable (CPT 70551).

The number of people trained to operate the Swoop system will depend on your facility’s guidelines and workflow. Hyperfine, Inc. offers one-on-one training to teach operators at your facility about the Swoop system exam workflow, including how to drive and position the Swoop system at the point-of-care, how to position a patient in the Swoop system, and how to operate the Swoop system using its provided Apple® iPad® mobile digital device. Check with hospital administration about regulations surrounding who may operate the Swoop system at your institute.

Apple and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

A dedicated room is not required—the Swoop system maneuvers through hospital environments and wheels directly to a patient's bedside. The system contains a unique proprietary radiofrequency noise cancellation system that enables it to create images in typical hospital environments, where conventional MRI systems cannot.

When stored under the specified environmental humidity and temperature conditions, the Swoop system is ready to image less than two minutes after plugging into power.

The Swoop system can send digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) images to the local PACS or Hyperfine, Inc. Image Viewer. Additionally, the system can pull patient information from the modality worklist (MWL) to register a patient for the exam.

For pricing information, please click here to contact a Hyperfine sales associate.

The Swoop system is cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a portable, ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging device for producing images that display the internal structure of the head where full diagnostic examination is not clinically practical. When interpreted by a trained physician, these images provide information that can be useful in determining a diagnosis.

See the Swoop system publications page.

Imaging sequences include T1 (Gray/White), T1 (Standard), T2, Fast T2, FLAIR, Fast FLAIR, DWI (with ADC map), and Fast DWI (with ADC map). To learn more, view the summary specifications sheet on our product resources page.

The Swoop system is not a replacement for fixed conventional MRI systems. Instead, it is a specialized device that produces images used to answer specific clinical questions when obtaining those answers using conventional MRI is not desirable, impossible, or too dangerous for the patient. The Swoop system is capable of non-contrast-enhanced brain imaging.

Unlike fixed conventional MRI systems that use superconducting magnets, the Swoop system’s permanent magnet design does not require liquid helium or other cryogens. The operating temperature range of the Swoop system is 15 to 30 degrees Celsius (59 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Unlike a fixed conventional MRI system, the Swoop system requires no additional RF shielding because of the built-in RF noise cancellation technology used by the Swoop system.

The Swoop system can acquire images in all three orthogonal planes—axial, sagittal, and coronal. All of the sequences can be acquired in the axial plane. The T1, T2, and FLAIR pulse sequences are also available in the sagittal and coronal planes. To learn more, view the summary specifications sheet on our product resources page.

The Swoop system can be used for patients on ventilators with the ventilator positioned outside the 5-gauss area.

The Swoop system’s specific absorption rate (SAR) limitations are well below any safety concerns for the intended patient population with respect to its intended use, MRI of the brain. The presence of conducting objects in the field of view is known to cause localized increased SAR, but the risk of this causing burns in the Swoop system is extremely low because of the ultra-low magnetic field and RF energy.

Acoustic noise from the Swoop system is substantially lower than that from a conventional MRI system. Because noise levels are low, hearing protection is optional for the patient.