Europe’s most powerful 7-tesla MRI machine in operation

On Wednesday, 22 March 2023, at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Europe’s most powerful 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine was formally inaugurated. The symbolic push of the button to start the high-performance MRI machine for future research work took place in the presence of the Minister of Science for Saxony-Anhalt, Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann. 

Henceforth, the MAGNETOM Terra.X Impulse Edition will enable brain functions and structures to be mapped and measured on site with a previously unachievable level of precision. “With the high capability of the unique new MRI machine, we will, together with the neuroscientists in Magdeburg, be able to take a more in-depth look into the human brain. In future, it will be possible to differentiate structures and functions within the cortex, that is the outer layer of the brain that contains our neurons in a layer only 3 millimeters thick, and expand our understanding of the brain and also of diseases,” explains the spokesperson of the Center for Advanced Medical Engineering (CAME), Professor Dr. Oliver Speck. The scientist goes on to say that Magdeburg is already the site where the most high-resolution 7-Tesla examinations are performed on humans globally.

With the inauguration of the MAGNETOM Terra.X Impulse Edition, the Magdeburg University campus has become only the second site in the world to have an MRI machine of this strength. Another machine is located at the University of California in Berkeley in the USA. The MRI machine available in Magdeburg, however, represents a new generation of the 7-Tesla high-performance MRI machine, with which artificial intelligence is used to improve the images obtained still further. This means that Magdeburg is able to take on a leading role in Europe in the field of imaging research.

“Magdeburg as a location is already synonymous with enormous expertise in the field of neuroscientific imaging, including on the international stage. The new MRI machine will again raise the corresponding research in the state capital to a new level and provide the impetus for innovation whilst raising its profile enormously and strengthening the whole of Magdeburg as a venue for research in terms of international competition,” says Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister of Science, Professor Dr. Armin Willingmann.

Together with an existing 7-Tesla MRI machine at the university, the new equipment is part of the Center for Advanced Medical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Magdeburg and, effective immediately, will be available for research purposes as joint infrastructure, known as core facilities, to institutions outside of the university, such as the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) and STIMULATE, the medical research campus.

According to the President, Professor Dr.-Ing. Jens Strackeljan, the close collaboration and cooperation with the extramural research facilities has for many years been a strength and unique selling point of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. “By developing and providing joint research infrastructure, our core facilities, the university has become an important partner in pioneering cutting edge research for scientists both in the city and also for interested parties from across the globe.”

According to Dr Arthur Kaindl, head of Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Siemens Healthineers, the inauguration of the high-performance MRI machine represents an important milestone in the long-term partnership between Siemens and the excellent ultra-high-field research facilities in Magdeburg. “The Magnetom Terra.X Impulse Edition, a 7-Tesla MRI machine that is optimized for head examinations, will set new standards in neuronal research. Due to its high field strength and strong gradient performance, the scanner will be ideal for more clearly detecting the finest structures in the brain. By introducing AI-based algorithms in the ultra-high-field technology for the first time, we are accelerating the imaging process and simultaneously improving image quality.”

The large magnets, which form the core element of the machine, were transported to the site on the University’s medical campus at the end of last year. The required housing was built there in to which the almost three meter long cylinder-shaped magnet with a diameter of nearly three meters was inserted with the help of heavy lifting equipment.

The cost of the MAGNETOM Terra.X Impulse Edition MRI machine including the housing, amounts to 15 million euros. This was financed from EU and Saxony-Anhalt state funding as well as by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).