Hyperfine Awarded $3.7 Million Grant to Advance Global Brain Health
Expansion of initiatives with AI-powered portable MRI will enable evaluation of childhood brain development through neonatal scanning and guide targeted health interventions in underserved communities, with funding support from the Gates Foundation.
The funding supports activities into 2028 and will be used to expand and accelerate technical innovation with AI-powered portable MRI for neonatal scanning to conduct objective evaluation of neurodevelopment among infants and young children in resource-constrained settings. The UNITY project, led by King’s College London (King’s), is using the accessible and scalable Swoop® system with a goal to ultimately enable more effective interventions that will improve child brain development and health globally.
Millions of infants worldwide are born prematurely, face malnutrition or experience other forms of health adversity, putting them at risk for delayed, impaired, or suboptimal neurodevelopment. To date, evaluation of neurodevelopment in resource-constrained countries has relied on proxy indicators, such as physical growth or behavioral tests, which may not accurately reflect brain development and prevent babies from receiving appropriate care. The Swoop® system offers a scalable, cost-effective solution for objectively assessing early brain development and monitoring the impact of maternal and child health interventions—providing clinicians with real-time, actionable insights that can better inform treatment.
“Through our ongoing partnership with Hyperfine, we are now imaging the developing brain where it was once impossible,” said Professor Steve Williams of King's College London, principal investigator for the UNITY research initiative. “This collaboration will fill a critical role in providing a low-cost, scalable method for directly evaluating neurodevelopment—ensuring more children have the chance not only to survive but thrive. Hyperfine brings all the relevant expertise needed for this investment to be successful. With the Swoop® system, we have already performed more than 10,000 examinations and scanned more than 6,000 babies and infants across five continents, demonstrating both the scalability and the life-changing potential of this technology.”
This grant supports further work through the UNITY project—an initiative to study environmental influences on early brain maturation and the impact of malnutrition, infection, inflammation, and birth complications on neurodevelopment using portable MR imaging. This new phase takes the next step to focus on helping optimize treatment in underserved countries. The UNITY research initiative is composed of more than 40 academic and clinical centers across low-, middle-, and high-income countries, including
With this grant, the collaboration with King’s aims to develop AI-based pipelines to improve image clarity and diagnostic reliability for neonatal patients, where motion and low signal-to-noise ratio present unique challenges. These targeted improvements are designed to deliver consistent and improved image quality for neonatal scanning that can advance Swoop® system use globally.
“As the company with the first FDA-cleared commercial ultra-low-field portable MR brain imaging system, Hyperfine remains uniquely positioned to lead and support this global effort,” said Maria Sainz, President and CEO of Hyperfine, Inc. “This new grant reflects not only confidence in our technology, but also in our readiness to scale solutions that matter. We are proud to advance global health by making imaging technology more accessible in all parts of the world with the support from the Gates Foundation as we continue working with the UNITY project and its researchers on efforts that promote the healthy development of young children around the globe.”
For more information about the Swoop® AI-powered portable MRI system, visit HyperfineMRI.com.
About the Swoop® Portable MRI Systems
The Swoop® Portable MR Imaging® Systems are
About Hyperfine, Inc.
Hyperfine, Inc. (Nasdaq: HYPR) is the groundbreaking health technology company that has redefined brain imaging with the Swoop® system—the first FDA-cleared, portable, ultra-low-field, magnetic resonance brain imaging system capable of providing imaging at multiple points of professional care. The mission of Hyperfine, Inc. is to revolutionize patient care globally through transformational, accessible, clinically relevant diagnostic imaging. Founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg in a technology-based incubator called 4Catalyzer, Hyperfine, Inc. scientists, engineers, and physicists developed the Swoop® system out of a passion for redefining brain imaging methodology and how clinicians can apply accessible diagnostic imaging to patient care. For more information, visit HyperfineMRI.com.
The Hyperfine logo, Swoop, and Portable MR Imaging are registered trademarks of Hyperfine, Inc. The Swoop logo, Optive AI logo, and Optive AI are trademarks of Hyperfine, Inc.
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Devin Zell
Hyperfine
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Webb Campbell
Gilmartin Group LLC
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Source: Hyperfine, Inc.
