The superconducting magnet of the PET/MRI equipment from the Bellvitge Hospital’s High Precision Diagnostic Centre has arrived this week at this centre, where it has already been installed in its final location. It is the main part of the PET/MRI equipment, together with the digital PET ring.
The magnet has a 3-tesla field and its function is to generate a high intensity magnetic field to achieve the necessary conditions to stimulate and capture the energy of the hydrogen atoms in the tissues that produce a series of signals of which the image will be made up. The magnet was moved and installed following a particularly meticulous procedure. A crane truck transported the 10-tonne magnet, refrigerated with helium in a cryogenic state to maintain a temperature of -269 °C.
The magnet was then transported to its location by remote-controlled trucks across the construction site. It was then transported to its location by remote-controlled trucks through the construction site.
The rest of the electronic components will soon be arriving to complete the PET/MRI equipment of the HUB's High Precision Diagnostic Centre, the installation of which has been made possible thanks to the philanthropic support of the Daniel Bravo Andreu Private Foundation. The new centre will cover all patients in the Catalan public health system.
PET/MRI integrates positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the two most advanced diagnostic imaging tools currently available, into a single scan that will cover all patients in the Catalan public health system.