Analytical Evaluation of Low-Field MRI Technology Deployment Potential for Neurological Diagnosis in Resource-Limited Nigerian Hospitals

Low-field portable MRI technology represents a potentially transformative development for neurological diagnosis in resource-limited Nigerian hospitals where conventional high-field MRI is inaccessible due to cost, infrastructure, and siting requirements, but a rigorous analytical evaluation of deployment feasibility and clinical value in the Nigerian context is needed. This study analytically evaluates the deployment potential of low-field MRI technology in resource-limited Nigerian hospital settings, using a multi-dimensional analytical framework applied to the Nigerian neurological disease burden, current diagnostic capacity gap, technical deployment requirements, and economic feasibility. The neurological disease burden analysis draws on national prevalence data for stroke, epilepsy, brain tumour, traumatic brain injury, and hydrocephalus, estimating the unmet neuroimaging need. Technical deployment analysis assessed power consumption requirements, cooling infrastructure needs, siting constraints, and service requirements of currently available low-field portable MRI systems against the typical conditions of secondary and district hospitals in three geopolitical zones. Clinical utility analysis examined published low-field MRI sensitivity and specificity data for stroke, space-occupying lesion, and hydrocephalus detection relative to standard-field MRI. Economic analysis compared total cost of ownership, cost per scan, and cost-effectiveness against CT scanning as the current comparator imaging modality in Nigerian hospitals. The analysis concludes that low-field MRI offers technically feasible deployment at Nigerian secondary hospitals for stroke triage and hydrocephalus diagnosis, with economic viability dependent on achieving scan volumes above forty patients per week. Regulatory pathway through NAFDAC is identified as a key enabling requirement. Keywords: low-field MRI, neurological diagnosis, resource-limited settings, deployment potential, Nigeria.