A new building at the Cleveland Clinic was designed by Hasenstab Architects to house one of the world’s most powerful MRI machines. It is the only 7 Telsa full-body MRI in northeast Ohio and one of a dozen in the USA. The project required the use of a crane to lower the 80,000-pound magnet, manufactured by Agilent, through an opening in the roof.
Each of the 7 Telsa MRI machines are unique and there are no standard protocols for the design of the isolation system, the project was challenging from the delivery of the equipment to poor soil conditions that required the use of auger cast pilings to stabilize the site. The new room is shielded from all radio interference by a continuous cooper skin on the inside of the room.
The 7T MRI has not been approved for clinical use in the USA, but it can be used for medical research involving diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy that will allow neuroscience researchers the ability to see clearer images of the brain, sometimes down to the cellular level.
Read more about the 7T MRI and the specially designed building at the Cleveland Center.
Photo by Jerry Lee.
