Time Medical Systems, a Hong Kong maker of advanced medical devices co-founded by US-trained Chinese academics, is seeking a new site to expand production as it eyes a 30-fold increase in sales of its magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners in the next few years.

The company is commercialising superconductor materials and magnet technologies that can slash the production and operating costs of such scanners while also cutting turnaround time, part of an effort to make early disease diagnosis more affordable globally.

In addition to full-body scanners, it has developed speciality machines for infants, breast-cancer screening and brain scans, mainly targeting private screening centres as customers, said Ma Qiyuan, chairman and CEO.

“Early diagnoses can save lives, that was my motivation to start the business,” Ma said of his academic-to-entrepreneur journey, speaking at the company’s 30,000 sq ft assembly facility in Tai Po.

“We should aim to diagnose a tumour when it is soybean-sized, because when it grows to peanut-sized it is already a bit dangerous, and if it is not found until it is egg-sized, then the patient will be unlikely to survive.”

MRI scanners use powerful magnets and radio waves to bring out detailed images of bones, organs, muscles and soft tissues.