Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

From where to have lunch to when to retire, life is filled with decisions that require careful consideration. Not the least of these is how to protect your CT, MRI, X-ray, or other medical imaging equipment with service and maintenance coverage.

No two imaging facilities are exactly alike, and that's why there is some flexibility among the plans you'll find on the service market. To help reduce your legwork as you enter the service market, we'll cover here three common imaging equipment service plans offered by service providers.

Anyone considering the purchase of an MRI machine should know that a healthy cooling system is essential to the maintenance and performance of their magnet. This means, among other things, keeping an eye on your helium level and getting refills at the proper time. Unfortunately, because there are so many different types of magnets in use today, and each of them experiences helium loss (AKA, boil-off) at a different rate, there is no one-size-fits-all prescription for when this needs to happen.

To help those of you comparing magnets and those of you looking to keep your existing magnet healthy, we've compiled helium boil-off rates for the top six magnets on the secondary market. These are the magnet types we see most often as a provider of used/refurbished MRI machines. Also included are a few pointers on refill rates and recommendations.

Need a helium refill for your MRI machine now? Click here to tell our team your MRI service needs.

If you're in the market for an MRI machine, chances are you'll see three big manufacturer names out front- Philips is definitely one of them (along with GE and Siemens).

Philips 1.5T MRI machines come in 4 main varieties that each shine in different areas. We've compiled a review of each 1.5T Philips scanner below to highlight some of those differences and strengths and help you along the way to choosing the best MRI for your facility's needs.

Thumping along at peak levels of 113 dB (just a couple ticks below a rock concert), MRI gradients are often unnerving and sometimes frightening. If you've ever wondered what it is inside an MRI scanner that makes the loud noise they are known for- gradients are the culprit.

Gradients are actually smaller magnets inside the main MRI magnet. Their job is to modify the magnetic field in the area being scanned so the system can “listen” for the resonance and create an image. It's difficult work to modify a magnetic field strong enough to lift a car (really), so the coils in these smaller magnets move and stress, literally vibrating. These vibrations are the source of the sound.

In spite of being noisy, they drive MRI value on the secondary market and they come in many varieties. That being said, let's dig a bit deeper so you can:

1. Be better informed when you are selling your used MRI on the secondary market
2. Compare gradients across manufacturers when buying a 1.5T MRI

Already have an MRI model in mind? Click here to get a system quote!