Life-saving portable X-ray machines

Can a CT scanner fit onto an ambulance? Why would you even want to do it? Portable X-Ray machines are not only more comfortable for patients, they can save crucial minutes to get to treatment. This is particularly the case with stroke victims, for whom the first few hours of treatment will make a difference to the rest of their lives.

SA-based company Micro-X has recently won $8 million in funding (from a $40 million grant awarded to the Australian Stroke Alliance under the Australian Government’s Frontier Health and Medical Research initiative) to further develop their small, portable CT scanner, which they aim to fit on an ambulance or in a plane.

Cosmos spoke with Micro-X Managing Director Peter Rowland about their technology, and what other applications it might have.

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