NLNG Unveils AI Innovation to Cut MRI Scan Time by 90 Per Cent

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has presented GenScan AI, an artificial intelligence-powered medical imaging innovation capable of reducing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan times by up to 90 per cent.

The innovation, developed by Nigerian researcher Ms Mary-Brenda Akoda, emerged as the winning entry of the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation sponsored by NLNG.

The technology was presented to health, science and technology experts, policymakers and representatives of medical institutions in Abuja on Monday.

According to Akoda, GenScan AI uses artificial intelligence to reconstruct MRI images from a fraction of the data normally required, enabling significantly faster scans while maintaining diagnostic image quality.

She explained that the technology could reduce a 20-minute MRI examination to about two minutes and a one-hour scan to approximately six minutes.

The innovation uses the C-MORE algorithm, a one-step framework designed to reconstruct MRI images without requiring new hardware, potentially allowing hospitals to improve the utilisation of existing scanners.

Akoda said the technology could help reduce diagnostic delays, shorten waiting times and enable healthcare facilities to examine more patients with the MRI equipment already available to them.

She said the innovation was partly inspired by her personal experience of delayed diagnosis and was developed from research conducted at Imperial College London.

A blinded assessment by a radiologist at Buckinghamshire NHS Hospital in the United Kingdom reportedly found the GenScan AI images diagnostically equivalent to conventional MRI scans, with similarity of up to 99.7 per cent.

The researcher also said health-economic modelling indicated that even at four times the scanning speed, the technology could potentially allow more than 40,000 additional patients to be scanned weekly.

Dr Sophia Horsfall, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, said the company wanted scientific research supported through the prize to translate into practical improvements in people’s lives.

She said GenScan AI offered prospects for faster medical imaging and better use of existing equipment, while stressing the importance of further engagement to move the innovation towards practical application.

Prof. Barth Nnaji, Chairman of the Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation Advisory Board, said the entry stood out because of its scientific strength and potential to address a practical healthcare challenge.

He said engagement with clinicians and other stakeholders would be necessary to determine how the technology could be safely and effectively deployed.

Akoda emerged winner from a record 237 entries submitted under the theme, “Innovations in Artificial Intelligence, ICT and Digital Technologies for Development”.

She is the first woman and first millennial to win the prize as an individual recipient and is scheduled to receive the US$100,000 award at the Grand Award Night on October 9.

The 2026 prize focused on innovations capable of addressing practical development challenges through artificial intelligence, information and communication technology and digital technologies.

The presentation of GenScan AI is expected to facilitate further discussions on its validation, development and potential deployment in Nigeria’s healthcare system.