What You Need To Know About Zero Boil Off MRI Scanners

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What You Need To Know About Zero Boil Off MRI
Scanners
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By Vikki Harmonay
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Since zero boil off MRI Scanners are extremely
expensive, its a good idea to understand the
facts and dispel misconceptions about these
systems before you buy. For example, a zero boil
off MRI Scanner still requires refills of liquid
helium. However, they require much less liquid
helium replacement than older models.
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These early generations of superconducting MRI
scanners used cryogens, super cooled liquids that
help create strong magnetic fields. The liquid
cryogens are comprised of helium and nitrogen and
boil off or evaporate in the atmosphere. They
need periodic refills, depending on the amount of
use. Because liquid helium is expensive and
scarce, nitrogen is used in combination with
helium in order to reduce the amount of helium
needed. Nitrogen does boil off more quickly and
requires more refills, so liquid cryogens are
still expensive to replace.
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Zero boil off MRI units were developed in the
2000s. With these units, as the liquid helium
boils off, gas goes into the condenser. It
converts gaseous helium into liquid, which is
circulated back into the MRI unit and reduces the
need for more liquid helium. These expensive
refrigeration units reduce the amount of boil off
which reduces the expense of refilling. However,
this doesnt eliminate consumption of helium.
This ability can add around more than 200,000 to
the cost of a zero boil off unit when compared to
a standard unit.
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Can You Afford A Zero Boil Off MRI Unit? Since a
zero boil off unit is significantly more
expensive than a standard unit, its important to
determine if you can afford the additional
expense before you buy one. Lets compare a
standard unit with a 1800L liquid helium capacity
with a zero boil off unit. The standard system
will consume approximately 864 liters of liquid
helium annually, or roughly 11,000 per year. Of
course, helium prices do fluctuate depending on
its availability and the number of exams and
types of studies performed. With a zero boil off
system, you only need to refill the system every
3-4 years and it costs significantly less.
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Zero boil off units are much more expensive to
purchase, but you will save money on helium
refills. Since helium can be scarce and
expensive, a zero boil off unity could be cost
effective in the long run, but it does depend on
your working budgets and patient volume. While a
standard MRI system is less expensive upfront,
its more expensive to operate because of the
liquid helium refills. You will need to
determine if your imaging department can offset
the purchase price of a zero boil off unit with
the money you can save from periodic refills.
However, a standard MRI unity might make sense if
you have a high volume of exams, which could
cover the cost of maintaining and refilling
liquid helium.
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Talk To An Expert Still not sure which kind of
MRI system is right for you? Talk to the experts
at Atlantis Worldwide. You might be surprised at
how much more affordable a refurbished system can
be, while still delivering the performance and
service warranties you need. Talk to Atlantis
Worldwide today.
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