USC researchers have developed a potential solution: flexible MRI sensors that can be customized to individual patients and 3D-printed in less than 10 minutes for about $30. In testing, the sensors produced roughly four times greater image contrast than standard commercial versions. The work is published in the journal Nature Communications.

“By making customized MRI equipment faster and more affordable to produce, we have the potential to bring better imaging to patients who have traditionally had fewer options, especially infants and children,” said Yasser Khan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, whose lab at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience designs and 3D-prints the customized coils.