Indian hospitals which have installed the 100 eco-friendly MRI installations save energy costs of Rs.3.6 crore to hospitals annually. The green MRI systems use 34 per cent less energy than previous generation MRI systems while achieving outstanding image quality required for accurate patient diagnosis. There is reduction of electricity usage by about 60,000 kWh per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 360 households in India under normal operating conditions.

India has about 1400 MRIs functioning at this point of time. Of which 100 MRIs fall under Green MRI which are from GE Healthcare. These 100 GE eco-friendly MRIs operational today is lowering energy usage by about Rs.3.6 crore to hospitals in India per annum from Mumbai to smaller towns covering Agartala, Ankola, Solapur, Meerut, Balasinor, Ghaziabad and Salem, Karthik Kuppusamy, director- MR, GE Healthcare South Asia told pharmabiz in an email interaction.

Now GE Healthcare is set to increase footprint with green MRIs to save energy costs for hospitals.

While there has been a positive outcome for these machines from India, the response from the other Asian markets is tremendous. Around 80 per cent of all MRIs purchased from this region are 1.5Tesla MRI systems that help to total cost of ownership.

“We have been investing in innovative solutions to meet the environmental challenges and released more eco-friendly MRI solutions such as Brivo MR 355, Optima MR 360 and most recently Optima MR 360 Advance,” he said and added, “The savings can avoid carbon dioxide emissions of about 35 tons per annum. There is 20 per cent less room requirement for installation making it convenient for a number of buyers across the region where space is an issue. Overall economic gains for a hospital will range up to Rs.10 lakh per annum for a user including lower energy, operating costs, built-in space savings and investment in UPS systems required for back-up operations of MRI.”

The company introduced the first environment friendly 1.5 T MRI - Signa HDe in 2008 under its “ecomagination” initiative. Although, the systems are vital for both urban and smaller towns, the company has been increasingly targeting the Tier II and III cities for installation. Space comes at a premium in urban centres, lower footprint is a huge boon when fuel and energy costs are skyrocketing. Another important factor is usage of back-up power either as UPS or generators. The green MRIs systems can save on capacity of power back-up from an average 100 kVA capacity to 60 kVA. Every hospital looks for most affordable systems, lower running costs that lead to a total lower cost of ownership. GE installed Brivo and Optima MRI units in metros, Tier I, II and III towns, he said.