From safety to advances in Tesla power, advances in MR technology continue to raise questions about its limitations and use, and what innovations lie on the horizon for it.

Here, we’ve rounded up the top picks that piqued your curiosity this year in regard to this classic imaging modality:


World's first 10.5-Tesla human MR scan performed at University of Minnesota

All the hype around MR in late February was directed at researchers from the University of Minnesota, when it was revealed that they had performed the world’s first 10.5 Tesla scan on a human.

Designed by Siemens Healthineers, the machine is equipped with a 110-ton magnet and “promises to produce scans at a finer level of detail,” according to UM’s Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. Work on constructing the modality began in 2008, with the first system installed at UM in October 2017.

“It feels great,” Dr. Kamil Ugurbil, a professor of medicine, neurosciences and radiology and the director of CMRR at the university’s medical school, said in a statement at the time. He called the use of the scanner on a human “a gratifying milestone after years of preparation. We are all excited about it. It’s been a long road leading up to this point.”


MR scanner leaks helium at JFK during transport

Liquid helium helps keep magnets at a temperature below 10 Kelvin, enabling them to be superconductive, a crucial component for ensuring correct scanning takes place. The leaking of this element, though, can be disastrous – not just to magnets, but to humans, leading to severe frostbite and burns, as well as dizziness and asphyxiation.

That’s why hazmat professionals were called in to JFK Airport back in February when a damaged MR machine began leaking the colorless, odorless vapor.

The machine in question “was being transported, fell, and was punctured” and began “leaking helium refrigerated liquid,” Joe Pentangelo, senior police public information officer at JFK, told HCB News at the time.

Using a forklift, personnel moved the scanner outside and called in Port Authority Police Department emergency services and fire crews. The spill was cleared at around 9:30 p.m.




The surprising link between MR helium leaks and iPhone shutdowns

Humans and magnets are the not the only potential victims of helium leaks. The colorless, odorless gas can also affect iPhones – models six and up – as well as Apple Watches, series zero and higher.

“One iPhone had severe service issues after the incident, and some of the [Apple Watches] remained on, but the touch screens weren’t working (even after several days),” said Erik Woolridge, a systems specialist at Morris Hospital in Illinois which experienced a helium leak that affected a number of devices throughout the entire facility.

The experience illustrates the need to consult user guides for iPhone and Apple Watch devices to protect or repair phones in the event of such leaks.


Philips new MR dramatically cuts helium requirement and needs no vent pipe

One solution to all these helium problems may be found in Royal Philips' Ingenia Ambition X 1.5T MR, which made its debut in September.

Equipped with a fully sealed BlueSeal magnet, the scanner requires less than half a percent of the amount of liquid helium used in conventional systems and can reduce scan time by 50 percent. It also has no vent pipe, making it 900 kilograms lighter than Philips’ Ingenia 1.5T ZBO magnet and significantly cutting down on construction costs.

“MR provides exceptional diagnostic capabilities, but it also places substantial operational demands on the hospital or imaging center due to requirements for installation, footprint and service,” said Arjen Radder, global business leader for MR at Philips, told HCB News. “The fully-sealed design of our BlueSeal magnet results in significant operational and productivity benefits for our customers.”

The system is both CE marked and FDA cleared, with the first installation completed at Spital Uster Hospital, a provider of extended primary healthcare in Zurich, Switzerland.


Man dies in India MR mishap

The most recent recording of MR adverse events saw a 500 percent rise between 2000 and 2009.


One such incident took place at the beginning of 2018 in India, when 31-year-old Rajesh Maruti Maru entered into the scanning room at BYL Nair Municipal Hospital in Mumbai with his elderly mother-in-law’s oxygen tank. The force of the machine sucked and pinned him by the hand, trapping him in the device and killing him.

“He went close to the machine and instead got pulled along with the oxygen cylinder inside the machine. Instead of taking responsibility, the hospital workers scolded us for Rajesh having gone close to the MR machine with the cylinder in his hand,” said Maru’s sister Priyanka Solanki, who was also present in the room.”

An investigation into the matter led to a number of arrests, and the closing of the machine. The hospital has sought money to repair the scanner and has requested a second machine to help with its workload.


The examples listed above demonstrate not just the direction that MR scanners are headed in but the mindset that clinicians must adopt in order to ensure that current and future capabilities of the modality are carried out in in a quality and effective manner that is also safe for patients.