A 7-tesla machine that's claimed to be one of Europe's most powerful MRI systems is now operational at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg in Germany. The machine was formally inaugurated recently.
The Magnetom Terra.X Impulse Edition will allow researchers to map and measure brain functions and structures onsite. The cost of the machine, including the housing, is around 15 million euros. The university said this was financed from European Union and Saxony-Anhalt state funding as well as by the European Regional Development Fund.
The Magdeburg University campus has become the second site in the world to have an MRI machine of this strength. Another machine is located at the University of California, Berkeley. The MRI machine available in Magdeburg uses artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the images obtained still further.
Together with an existing 7-tesla MRI machine at the university, the new equipment is part of the university's Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and will be available for research purposes as joint infrastructure to institutions outside of the university. These include the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, and the German Center for Mental Health, among others.
