Time Medical International Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fischer Medical Ventures, has unveiled VEGA, a heavily optimised permanent-magnet MRI system engineered specifically for rapid, non-contrast TOF angiographic screening of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Engineered in close partnership with renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Iype Cherian, VEGA aims to support population-level screening—an approach Dr. Cherian has long championed as the most effective strategy to prevent aneurysm-related deaths in India.

Unruptured intracranial aneurysms are more common than widely recognised. Global studies show that around 3.2 percent of adults harbour an aneurysm. In India, this equates to nearly 30 million people living with a potentially life-threatening but detectable condition.

Expanding access to affordable, low-field TOF MRI systems can help in early detection and intervention, improving outcomes for families and strengthening community brain health. However, early detection remains rare in India. Conventional tools such as CT angiography involve radiation and contrast, making them unsuitable for large-scale screening. High-field MRI systems, although excellent diagnostically, are expensive to operate, require helium, and are difficult to deploy outside major urban centres. As a result, most aneurysms in India are discovered only after they rupture.

VEGA represents a transformative shift, according to the company.  It explains, “By using a permanent-magnet low-field design, the scanner avoids helium entirely, consumes far less power and requires minimal maintenance. Its optimised TOF sequence produces high-quality vascular imaging within six minutes, without radiation or contrast.”

The lightweight, low-infrastructure design makes it suitable for district hospitals, semi-urban centres, and even mobile diagnostic units. 

Artificial intelligence is central to the system’s scalability. Modern deep learning models can detect aneurysms on TOF scans with more than 95 percent sensitivity, allowing radiologists to supervise large volumes of studies through a hub-and-spoke teleradiology network. This ensures that screening can expand far beyond the limits of specialist manpower.

“This scanner has been designed for scale, sustainability and accessibility. It enables districts and smaller institutions to perform high-value neurovascular screening at a cost structure that was previously impossible,” Time Medical said in a statement.

Dr. Cherian, Neurosurgeon at Parul University, stated, “Aneurysm rupture is one of the most catastrophic neurological events, yet it is entirely preventable when detected in time. Low-field MRI allows India to move from reacting to emergencies to preventing them altogether.”

Svetlana, Director, Time Medical International Ventures, noted that the introduction of VEGA marks a significant step forward in making preventive neurovascular screening accessible at scale.

“With VEGA, we are creating a pathway for earlier detection and proactive brain health, ensuring that communities everywhere can benefit from advanced neuro-imaging without the traditional barriers of cost and infrastructure,” she added.