July 3, 2014 — Delegates from academia and industry flocked to see the world's first commercial, cryogen free, 7.0T, preclinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging, which went on display for the first time at the recent joint ISMRM/ESMRMB meeting in Milan, Italy and the SNMMI meeting in St Louis.
At the shows, MR Solutions showcased the brand new 7.0T scanner to hundreds of visitors from across the world. Visitors to the shows were also surprised to learn that soon one machine could undertake a variety of imaging techniques, including MRI, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) with MR Solutions accessing its imaging systems with in line or 'in-the-bone' modalities.
The cryogen free technology provides a number of advantages. Firstly, and most importantly, it offers superior soft tissue contrast and molecular imaging capabilities. Secondly, it is very competitively priced, as there is no need for all the cryogen cooling equipment. Thirdly, because it has a very small stray magnetic field, it can be placed close to other scanners for much more efficient operation, and fourthly, because of the lack of liquid helium cooling and required safety equipment the scanner is easy to install and needs no expensive building alterations.
The 7.0T preclinical MRI system has a bore diameter of 17 cm. A range of larger bore, 7.0 T scanners will be announced later in the year.
MR Solutions has been able to dispense with the usual liquid helium cooling system by using a revolutionary magnet design. This enables the use of a standard low temperature fridge to cool the magnet to the required -269°C (4 degrees Kelvin).
The magnet in the new 7.0T MRI system has an elliptical field of view, which makes it even more suitable for research purposes.
These technological advances have dramatically reduced the cost of these powerful systems to make them extremely competitive.
For more information: www.mrsolutions.com
April 29, 2024 
