Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a mainstay of medical imaging facilities. Superior soft-tissue contrast versus CT scans and the use of non-ionizing radio waves to visualize a rich matrix of functional information – including blood volume/oxygenation and localized metabolic activity within tumour sites – represent a winning combination for clinicians in the diagnosis and treatment of all manner of diseases.

Underpinning that clinical capability is an array of enabling technologies, the largest and most expensive of which is the superconducting magnet that sits at the heart of today’s cutting-edge MRI scanners. Clinical MRI