Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

In recent years, helium has become more scarce and, therefore, expensive. Meanwhile, the race has been on among magnet manufacturers to dramatically reduce or even eliminate helium “burn” or “boil off” in an MRI. Fortunately, there have been a number of successes in that endeavor. But, just because the technology exists to bring helium consumption levels to all-time lows doesn't mean that most systems in the field today operate at that level. 

The following is a breakdown of typical helium loss rates among popular MRI models; some long-standing workhorses, others just beginning their years of service to patients in the field.

We recently shared in another blog article how much it costs to rent a mobile MRI machine. Naturally, this begged the question from a number of people, "How much does it cost to buy a mobile MRI machine?" We'll answer that today.

The US mobile market is both cyclical and nuanced. In the early 2000’s, mobile route providers were growing like crazy and the supply couldn’t keep up with the demand. From 2007-2015, as many care providers brought MRI in-house, the mobile supply outweighed the demand and market pricing fell.   

Given these market dynamics, the following prices are based on mobiles that were built, refurbished, or upgraded in 2015 or later.

Every day, our team has the privilege of helping medical professionals find the MRI equipment they're looking for and, increasingly, the name they're after is Philips.

The mainstay equipment type in MRI is most definitely the 1.5T closed-bore magnet. As facilities seek to fill this important space in their imaging stable with a Philips system, the two models they most often have in mind are the Philips Achieva and the Philips Ingenia. Below, we'll compare the Achieva and the Ingenia to help you better understand their features and the value each system brings for buyers on the secondary market.

The Copley 274 gradient amplifier is used with the Philips Intera 1.5T MRI scanner. Inside the gradient cabinet are three parts that most Intera users will find themselves replacing at one point or another.

• Gradient Module
• Gradient power supply
• Gradient controller

If you're reading this and you have an Intera, I'd be willing to bet a modest sum of American dollars (or, perhaps, Malaysian Ringgits) the next two questions you have are: "How often do I need to replace these?" AND "How much will it cost?"

Read on to find out just what you can expect from your Copley gradient components.