Siemens Healthineers is one of the world’s largest suppliers of technology in the healthcare industry and the leader in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics and healthcare IT, all supported by a comprehensive portfolio of clinical consulting, training, and services available across the globe tailored to customers’ needs.
Today, Siemens Healthineers is the largest manufacturer of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) systems in the world, supporting manufacture in the UK, Germany, China and Brazil. Siemens Magnet Technology started the manufacture of superconducting magnets in its Oxford (UK) factory in 1983 and by 2015 had shipped its 20,000th magnet. In 2015 Siemens had an installed base of approximately 14,500 MRI systems, representing 40% of the operational MRI’s in hospitals across the globe.
MRI is a non-invasive, painless imaging technique for obtaining detailed pictures of organs and other structures inside your body; a procedure that can eliminate the need for exploratory surgery. The first MRI systems installed were technically very different from the modern machines that are present in the majority of imaging suites of today. The early MRI systems weighed approximately 7.5 tonnes and required tens of tonnes of iron shielding; meaning machines were located in basements with the diagnostics suite built around the machine. Operating the machine was an expensive exercise as machines would ‘drink’ liquid helium at the rate of several litres per hour to maintain the helium jacket; a secondary nitrogen jacket was maintained around the magnet, meaning both liquid helium and nitrogen would be required to support the machine.
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