now THERE'S a magnet!

The University of MD School of Medicine wil be acquiring a two-story, 8-ton imaging device, strong enough to lift 50 cars. Holy moley. It's a 23 Tesla.

This machine, a spectrometer, is a type of MRI magnet to be used in researching molecules instead of diagnosing people. Ultimately it could be very useful in developing drug treatments for cancer and other diseases. The magnet will run 24/7, and medical researchers from around the area will have access.

ess

[Lulu54]

Holey moley is right, Rocky .... that is humongous.  Isn't technology amazing?

Lu

[steph74]

scary!  I swear even in the 3T I could almost feel the magnetic field!

[steph74]

(So it's good that they're not using it on people!)

[sllowe]

Holy Magic Magnet Batman!!!!!!!!!

Can see us all dangling ther now, lol

[jensequitur]

Wow...

In my 3T MRI I had recently, I wore my wedding ring.  It's 14k, but it was jumping around inside that magnet!  I could feel it hop every time the MRI made that 'EENK' noise.  

I wonder if they'll have any problems with the surroundings?  I guess they'll have to shield the magnet...

[RedFlame]

wow,  that's almost scary.  Imagine something alive in there!!  I have heard of the 9T but this-----

Red

[HVAC]

Would it pull the fillings out of your teeth? LOL Next episode of House and how much will they charge for that puppy? My insurance copay for a 1.5 is nearly $900.

Alex

[essdipity]

Lol, Alex. I too wonder what would be left of a poor human after 23 Tesla! Not much, I'll bet.          

Guess it would take the 5 screws out of my left foot and the remaining pins, plates and screws from my right elbow. Ugly thought!

ess

[Lulu54]

Just for comparison ffrom Wikipedia  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauss_(unit)

A tesla is = 10,000 gauss
A 23= 230,000 gauss

10(to the −9 power) gauss: human brain magnetic field
0.31–0.58 gauss: the Earth's magnetic field
50 gauss: a typical refrigerator magnet
100 gauss: a small iron magnet
2000 gauss: a small neodymium-iron-boron (NIB) magnet
15,000-30,000 gauss: a medical magnetic resonance imaging electromagnet
1,000,000,000,000  gauss: the surface of a neutron star, no known object in the universe can generate stronger magnetic field

--------------------------------
They don't talk about the high strength MRIs but this is an easy to understand study guide for how an MRI works and other stuff.....  keep an eye out for the floor polisher if you read this !! LOL

http://bristolsurgery.net/Documents/177%20Understanding%20Magnetic%20resonance%20imaging.pdf

This sure is fun to think about.

[essdipity]

Yikes, your second reference is sure on target. I did see the part about floor polishers.

The parts that got to me were the many references to metallic projectiles (think keys or jewelry flying across the room and embedding itself in....whatever), and noise. Apparently the level of noise is a function of the strength of the magnet. At 23T, our ears would be fried.

I was kidding when I said I'd have surgical screws, etc., flying. At least I hope they wouldn't be. Such things are made of titanium, which is as non-magnetic as metal gets. I've had loads of MRIs without incident, and have always escaped the scrutiny of metal detectors at airports, etc.

ess

[supermum_ms]

LOL Glad i'm not paying the power bill, it would have to be a doozey!

Cheers....JJ