The Reporter: Oct 1994, Vol.5, No.3
MRI Magnet Arrives

A 25-ton, donut-shaped magnet for the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imager (MRI) for human research arrived in June after a week-long journey from Livermore, Calif., on a flatbed truck. The magnet was lowered by crane into CPMC's specially built Hatch MRI research facility. A temporary wall was removed to accommodate the magnet's installation, which followed nine years of research and development by Dr. S.K. Hilal, director of neuroradiology, and other Columbia researchers. "This is my dream," said Dr. Hilal, pictured with the magnet. "It will allow us to study various components of the body with a magnetic strength that nobody has been able to reach before." The Hatch MRI will be used in investigational studies on brain diseases, cancer, heart attack, AIDS, and psychiatric disorders. Before research can begin, researchers must integrate the magnet with computers and other electronics, a process expected to be finished this fall.