Donating prize money for better health care in Peru
The three winners of the German Future Prize 2023 decided to donate their prize money. The 250,000 euros were used to purchase a Magnetom Free.Star scanner, which they themselves developed. The MRI system will be installed in the charity hospital ”Diospi Suyana” in Apurímac in the south of Peru to improve health care there. “We are remaining true to our common goal,” says Prof. Dr. Michael Uder, Director of the Institute of Radiology at Uniklinikum Erlangen and one of the prizewinners. “We developed the MRI system to allow more people across the globe to benefit from this imaging technology. It is an issue that is very close to our hearts, and for us it was only logical that we invest our prize money in a scanner for use in a economically underdeveloped region.” Together with the two other prizewinners Dr. Stephan Biber and Dr. David Grodzki from Siemens Healthineers, Prof. Uder symbolically presented the MRI system to Dr. Klaus-Dieter John and Dr. Marina John, the two founders of Diospi Suyana, and Olaf Böttger, the Chair of the Diospi Suyana e. V. Association on November 27, 2024 in Schloss Bellevue in Berlin in the presence of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Augusto Arzubiaga Scheuch, ambassador of the Republic of Peru in Germany.
The three prize winners received financial support for purchasing the MRI system, with Siemens Healthineers AG, Siemens AG and Siemens Caring Hands all donating a considerable amount. Diospi Suyana specializes in caring for the indigenous Quechua people. Patients come to the hospital from across the country, but until now, no MRI scanner has been available for precise diagnosis of various diseases. The donation includes a service contract for ten years. That apart, Prof. Uder and his team from Uniklinikum Erlangen will travel to Peru for several weeks to provide support to the doctors there in integrating the new scanner into their clinical procedures. The Magnetom Free platform was developed with the aim of bringing imaging technology to where it was previously impossible, for example to the Apurímac region in the Andes. The scanners are equipped with a number of innovative features that facilitate the installation, maintenance and handling of the equipment at the same time as providing high image quality.
“I am very proud to be the chairman of the supervisory board of a company that is both recognized for its innovation in health care and that demonstrates a great dedication to society across boundaries,” said Prof. Dr. Ralf P. Thomas, chair of the supervisory board of Siemens Healthineers AG. “I would especially like to thank the team that won the German Future Prize and donated their prize money to health care for the people of Peru.”
Elisabeth Staudinger, member of the board of Siemens Healthineers AG, said, “Winning the German Future Prize was a great honor for us, recognizing as it did the innovative spirit and dedication of our team. More importantly, however, is the fact that our prizewinners have now donated the Magnetom Free platform to a group of people in Peru that have had no access to MRI technology until now. In this way, they are making a major contribution towards improving the lives of those who require high-quality health care. The donation also underlines our commitment to undergoing pioneering work in health care for all people across the globe.”
Dr. Klaus-Dieter John, one of the two founders of Diospi Suyana, said, “Diospi Suyana is a Christian and humanitarian institution that has been offering cutting-edge medicine to hundreds of thousands of patients for more than 17 years now. Our aim is to provide the poorest of the poor with the most modern medical care available. We would like to thank the prize winners, Siemens Healthineers and Siemens for the donation of this cutting-edge MRI scanner.”
Team speaker Dr. Stephan Biber added, “We are very proud that this donation allows us to open a new chapter for the people in Apurímac and beyond. It was clear to us from the outset that we wanted to use our prize money for improved health care. We have found the perfect partner in Diospi Suyana in Peru.”
The Magnetom Free platform is the result of more than ten years of development work conducted by Stephan Biber, David Grodzki and their teams at Siemens Healthineers. The MRI has been completely revamped in order to break down barriers surrounding the technology. These barriers include factors such as a lack of funding for the construction work required to house a traditional scanner, a lack of availability of liquid helium for cooling the magnets or a lack of trained staff for the complex examinations. Magnetom Free systems have a lower field strength of 0.55 tesla, combined with AI-based image reconstruction for a high diagnostic quality for standard examinations and simplified requirements in the way of infrastructure thanks to the drastically reduced requirement for helium of only 0.7 liters. Together with his institution, Michael Uder was responsible for clinical testing and integration of Magnetom Free in clinical routine.
Further information:
Prof. Dr. Michael Uder
Phone: +49 9131 85 36065
michael.uder@uk-erlangen.de