Commissioning Completion of the Iseult Whole Body 11.7 T MRI System

The Iseult project is a French-German initiative focused on very high magnetic-field molecular imaging. The project includes a Whole Body 11.7 T MRI magnet installed at Neurospin, a neuroscience research center operating at CEA Saclay since November 2006. After 7 years of fabrication at Belfort by GE Power (Ex Alstom), the Iseult magnet was delivered to CEA in June 2017, its connection with the cryoplant and all the ancillary equipment was completed in October 2018. After 4 months of cooldown and another 4 months of tests, the Iseult magnet reached its nominal field of 11.72 T without any quench for the first time, on July 18th. This paper deals with the magnet connection at Neurospin with the cryoplant and with the electrical and control systems. Finally, the paper will present the magnet commissioning data, from the cooling phase to the step-by-step energization up to the nominal current.