Current Status in Building a Compact and Mobile HTS MRI Instrument

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an indispensable tool in monitoring lipid-rich tissues and the musculoskeletal system. It however requires maintaining a huge homogeneous (1 to 7 T) field. That is where superconductors come into play since they are the only feasible way to create such fields. The state-of-the-art technology utilizes low critical temperature superconductors (LTS) which require cooling down to liquid helium temperatures (4.2K). The new generation superconductors, aka the high critical temperature superconductors (HTS), can operate up to relatively elevated temperatures (technically above 100K's). In addition to that, they can withstand larger magnetic field strengths which can theoretically go up to the order of hundred Teslas in magnitude. It is evident that LTS wires of current MRI magnet technology is at their limits and new pursuits such as reaching higher fields and reducing operational/maintenance costs are in the favor of HTS tapes. There is, in fact, another advantage beyond minimization of the cryogenic costs, namely the compactness of the overall system. Utilizing certain auxiliary techniques such as flux pumping and conductive cooling of the tapes, MRI magnets can be reduced in size substantially. That, in turn, enables constructing much smaller thus mobile MRI scanners which can be brought to patients' doorsteps. Here we present the current status of our project aiming to build an HTS MRI machine dedicated to use as a mobile head scanner.

Automated summary

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is crucial for monitoring lipid-rich tissues and the musculoskeletal system, requiring a huge, homogeneous magnetic field. Superconductors are essential for creating such fields, with high critical temperature superconductors showing advantages in field strength and cost reduction. The technology aims for compactness and mobility in MRI machines, with HTS tapes enabling smaller and portable scanners for patients.