Compact MRI

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The project is primarily carried out at Cambridge University by the research team led by Dr Coombs. The research is constituted to address fundamental underpinning research into the development of ultra-high field magnets that will help to advance research into novel materials and to further understand existing ones. Currently HTS magnets have to be driven by bulky power supplies via thick warm-to-cold current leads, which complicates heat insulation, limits current capacity, and affects field stability. Flux pumping an HTS magnet provides an approach to eliminate the reliance on such power supplies and current leads, opening up the way to a truly compact, transportable and low cost MRI which could be taken to the patients' bedsides. Further weight savings can be achieved by developing an ultra-short magnet.Mobile near-patient MRI for acute brain imaging is a tantalizing prospect but no clinically usable prototype solution is currently available. The technological challenges are substantial. The magnetic field in traditional MRIs is generated by Low-Temperature Superconductors which operate in liquid helium(@4.2K). This project will explored the possibility of creating an ultra-compact system using HTS and thereby to extend the range of an already proven method of clinical diagnosis, MRI, saving lives and improving recovery prospects.