India Begins Using Hyperfine Swoop System for Bedside Brain Imaging

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India’s foremost medical institution, has begun using Hyperfine Inc.’s Swoop portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system.

In a collaboration between Radiosurgery Global Ltd. (India’s exclusive Swoop system distributor) and AIIMS New Delhi’s Centre for Neurological Conditions, the Swoop system is now performing bedside brain imaging for routine clinical care under Dr. Shailesh Gaikwad, head of the Department of Neuroimaging and Interventional Neuroradiology and chief of the Neuroscience Centre at AIIMS New Delhi.

“Bedside brain imaging transforms how we care for our most critically ill patients. At AIIMS, we manage thousands of stroke and ICU patients annually, where rapid neuroimaging is essential—yet transport to conventional MRI is often unsafe or impossible,” Dr. Gaikwad said. “The Swoop system eliminates that barrier. Now our clinicians can obtain diagnostic images at the point of care, enabling faster decision-making in neurology, trauma, and critical care. For a medical institution like ours that serves as a referral center across India, this deployment signals what’s possible when technology and clinical need align to advance neurological care.”

India is home to more than 1 billion people across diverse geographies, including urban megacities, remote districts, rural communities, and everything in between. Across this landscape, timely access to neuroimaging remains a significant challenge. When patients suffer a stroke, sustain a brain injury, or present with a neurological emergency, the imaging required for diagnosis and treatment is often delayed or unavailable.

Conventional high-field MRI systems require dedicated shielded rooms, specialized infrastructure, and patient transport. For critically ill patients in ICUs, trauma bays, neurosurgery wards, neonatal units, and emergency departments, transport is often not feasible. These limitations can delay diagnosis and treatment and impact outcomes.

The Swoop system addresses these barriers by bringing MRI directly to the point of care. It requires no dedicated room, specialized power, or patient transfer. Clinicians can roll the system to the patient’s bedside in the ICU, trauma center, stroke unit, or neonatal ward and obtain brain images when and where they are needed most.

The Breadth of Clinical Impact

The Swoop system supports a wide range of unmet clinical needs across India’s healthcare ecosystem:

• Neurology and stroke: Rapid bedside brain imaging to support timely assessment and decision-making in acute stroke care without the risks associated with patient transfer.
• Emergency care and trauma: Timely bedside assessment of traumatic brain injury in clinical settings where speed of diagnosis is critical.
• Critical care and ICU: Ongoing neurological monitoring for critically ill patients without disrupting intensive care workflows.
• Pediatric care: Safe, accessible brain imaging for infants in PICUs, where conventional MRI is often inaccessible or clinically impractical.
• Outpatient neurology and GP practices: Community-based point-of-care brain imaging that supports screening and streamlined referral pathways.
• Neurosurgery: Post-operative monitoring without moving vulnerable patients.

Deployment at AIIMS New Delhi marks the beginning of broader adoption across India, bringing point-of-care brain imaging to clinical environments where it can have the greatest impact.

“Bringing the Swoop system to AIIMS New Delhi is an important milestone following regulatory approval last December. India has a significant unmet need for accessible brain imaging. Deployment at the country’s leading institution signals the start of bringing point-of-care brain MRI to sites of care and institutions across India, where it can serve clinicians and their patients across neurological conditions,” Hyperfine President/CEO Maria Sainz stated.

“Radiosurgery Global exists to democratize access to transformative technologies. We’re proud that the Swoop system’s first clinical deployment in India is at AIIMS New Delhi—an institution that shares our commitment to advancing patient care across this vast, underserved landscape. This isn’t just a regulatory or commercial milestone—it’s the beginning of changing outcomes for critically ill patients in ICUs, trauma units, and stroke centers nationwide,” said Kapil Kalra, managing director at Radiosurgery Global Ltd.

A Platform for Clinical Research and Discovery

The Swoop system deployment at AIIMS New Delhi also establishes a foundation for clinical research. As a center for neuroscience research and clinical innovation, AIIMS New Delhi is positioned to generate real-world evidence to guide the adoption and utilization of portable MRI across India. The AIIMS New Delhi team plans to document outcomes, contribute to peer-reviewed publications, and advance India’s role in the growing global evidence base for point-of-care brain imaging.

The Swoop Portable MR Imaging Systems are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared for brain imaging (patients of all ages). They are portable, ultra-low-field magnetic resonance imaging devices for producing images that display the head’s internal structure where full diagnostic examination is not clinically practical. When interpreted by a trained physician, these images provide information that can be useful in determining a diagnosis.

Hyperfine Inc. claims it has redefined brain imaging with the Swoop system—a portable, ultra-low-field, magnetic resonance brain imaging system capable of providing imaging at multiple points of professional care. 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 the way clinicians can apply accessible diagnostic imaging to patient care.

Established in 1956, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, is an autonomous public medical university and national referral center for tertiary healthcare, medical education, and biomedical research. AIIMS New Delhi consistently ranks as India’s top hospital and trains thousands of specialists who go on to shape clinical practice nationwide. The Centre for Neurological Conditions (CNC) at AIIMS New Delhi is one of India’s foremost centers for neurological care, research, and innovation.

Radiosurgery Global Ltd. (RSG), operating through its Indian entity Jona Tech Systems Pvt. Ltd., is the exclusive authorized distributor of the Hyperfine Swoop system across India. RSG is a vertically integrated advanced medical technology company headquartered in London with offices in New Delhi, Munich, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, and Sydney, focused on driving innovative technologies into high-growth markets.