Intermagnetics General Corporation

Robert E Wilcox

Michael J Hennessy

F Scott Murray

Leo Blecher

Yuri Lvovsky

Hung B Zou

A Kamal Kalafala

Richard T Woods

An MRI magnet assembly includes a pair of cryostat enclosures each housing a superconducting primary shield coil. The primary shield coil is dimensioned with an outer diameter greater than that of the main coil and is axially spaced away from the magnet pole significantly farther than is the main coil. This design provides for increased accessibility and visibility within the gap defined between the cryostat enclosures, and allows for reduced amounts of superconducting material in the coils. A set of field shaping coils is mounted radially inwardly and closely axially adjacent to the magnet pole and axially between the main coil and the shield coil.

Split type magnetic resonance imaging magnet

A magnetic suspension system and a procedure for operating the system employ a superconducting magnet having a lift coil assembly for developing a magnetic field to interact with the magnetic field of an object to be supported about the superconducting magnet. Smaller and larger magnet coils are provided in the superconducting magnet with counter rotating flow of current to introduce a depression in a potential energy surface above the superconducting magnet, this allowing the object to seek a height at the depression for stably locating the object. The system and methodology employs a set of control coils which are energized to orient and to translate the object to maintain a desired position and orientation. Pairs of the control coils are energized to produce a tilting of the object, as in roll or pitch, or a displacement of the object relative to the vertical axis.

Large gap magnetic suspension system with superconducting coils

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Westerlo, NY, United States of America

Robert E Wilcox