Siemens Healthineers is debuting its first fully sealed 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner, designed to dramatically reduce its use of helium coolant.
The company said its Magnetom Flow.Ace system, with its closed circuit and no quench exhaust pipe, only requires 0.7 liters of liquid helium to run—compared to the more than 1,000 liters needed to refill traditional scanners over their lifetimes, as they slowly leak the gas into the atmosphere.
In addition, Siemens Healthineers said the FDA-cleared machine, with its 60-centimeter bore, will be its first scanner to also be marketed to the veterinary community as well as general radiology, with a set of dedicated animal MR coils.
The Magnetom Flow.Ace comes equipped with the company’s artificial intelligence programs designed for shorter scan times and improved image reconstruction—as well as an eco-power mode that automatically shuts down energy-intensive components when they’re not needed.
Siemens Healthineers said this feature can reduce annual energy consumption by more than 30% compared to its last generation of scanners, while the lack of a quench pipe and a relatively smaller footprint make the Magnetom Flow.Ace easier to install than previous 1.5T machines.
The magnet’s DryCool sealed helium system was previously employed in the company’s 0.55T Magnetom Free platform, with its less-powerful but more compact MRI scanners, which are designed to also be offered as a plug-and-play solution without the need for facility infrastructure. That includes the ability to operate within an independent container placed in a parking lot, for example.