alt Hacker News> However, this portable device, which has a 3D-printed core, has a limited field strength of just 50mT (compared to the 1.5T to 3T used by full-sized units).
So anywhere from 1/30 to 1/60 the utility, for 1/15th the price.
The expensive parts of owning and operating MRI machines are not anything that 3d printing makes cheaper.
Unfortunately the utility of MRIs (for human diagnostic purposes) does not scale linearly with power at least on the lower end. You need a certain resolution to reach a level of confidence to make a diagnosis and act upon it.
When radiologists or neurologists who are used to looking at slices from 3T machines have to look at lower quality images you can hear a few grumbles about how it would increase their diagnostic certainty about what they are looking at if they had just another slice or 2.
Still a very cool project though!