By Newsshelve Correspondent.
Winner of the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation (NPSI), Mary-Brenda Akoda, has expressed her determination to make Nigeria one of the first countries to benefit from her artificial intelligence-powered MRI technology, GenMRI.
Akoda disclosed this during an engagement with journalists in Lagos facilitated by the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), where she explained the technology’s potential to reduce MRI scan times by up to 90 per cent and improve access to diagnosis.
She said Nigeria’s early adoption of the technology was important to ensure that the country did not become an afterthought after producing innovations capable of solving major healthcare challenges.
“We would want Nigeria to be a priority and not an afterthought. For too long, that’s been the case where we build innovations and we think of elsewhere and then we think of Nigeria later on,” she said.
Akoda explained that her interest in improving medical diagnosis was partly informed by her earlier research on diabetic retinopathy, which she conducted in collaboration with ophthalmologists at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
She said the Chief Medical Director of Asirpo Diagnostic Centre, who was familiar with her previous work, subsequently expressed interest in testing the MRI technology and initiated discussions around a clinical pilot.
According to her, GenMRI has undergone retrospective validation involving more than 8,800 MRI images, achieving up to 99.7 per cent similarity with conventional MRI scans.
She added that an independent, blinded assessment by a consultant radiologist in the UK further strengthened the validation of the technology.
Akoda said the radiologist assessed the GenMRI images as diagnostically equivalent to conventional MRI images in all the cases examined, despite the technology requiring substantially less scanning time.
She, however, clarified that the technology has not yet been deployed routinely in live clinical settings, as the company is currently working with clinical partners towards prospective pilots and the necessary regulatory approvals.
“GenMRI is classified as a software as a medical device, which means that it needs regulatory approval before it can be deployed widely,” she said.
Akoda disclosed that discussions were already underway with Nigerian healthcare institutions, including Asirpo Diagnostic Centre, while the Minister of Education had pledged to facilitate the involvement of the Minister of Health.
She also said the Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Medical Institutions was issuing a letter of intent towards a national pilot.
The scientist said the technology could help Nigeria maximise the capacity of its existing MRI scanners, rather than relying solely on the purchase of additional machines, which can cost millions of dollars.
She explained that reducing scan times could enable more patients to be examined on existing machines, while also reducing repeat scans and the need for sedation in some cases, particularly among children.
Akoda said the ultimate objective was to accelerate the period between a patient’s referral, diagnosis and treatment.
“Our focus, our vision is that no one suffers or dies because of a delay that matters,” she said.
She expressed hope that the technology could eventually contribute to making MRI services more affordable, urging hospitals and imaging centres that adopt it to pass some of the efficiency gains to patients.
Akoda projected that, within five years, millions of people globally could benefit from GenScan AI’s technologies, with GenMRI serving as the beginning of a broader effort to shorten diagnostic delays.
She said the company ultimately envisaged a future where patients could undergo MRI examinations in a fraction of the current time, improving access to timely diagnosis and treatment.
The 2026 NPSI award recognised Akoda’s work in developing GenMRI, an AI-powered imaging technology designed to accelerate MRI scanning while maintaining diagnostic quality.
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