Toshiba delivers cooling for transportalble MRI scanning unit
A bespoke air-conditioning system from Toshiba provides cooling for the examination room of a transportable MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner, the first of its kind developed by Toshiba Medical Systems. The facility enables high-resolution scans of individual limbs or the whole body to be carried out on location. The cooling was provided by Just Air Conditioning, working with Toshiba distributor AMP.
Wayne Raven of Just Air Conditioning, explains, ‘Due to the powerful magnetic fields generated in the examination area, it is not possible to site air conditioning in the room itself. We therefore designed a special ducted system, which had to pass through a radio-frequency cage, to keep the specialist equipment cool and ensure patients and staff remain comfortable at all times.’
The equipment comprised a modified vertically ducted VRF unit twinned with a split-system condensing unit.
There are two more split air-conditioning systems, one for the control room and a ceiling suspended unit in the technical room. Each has its own condensing unit sited on the front bulkhead of the unit.
The heart of the scanner is a 5.5 t electro-magnet cooled by liquid helium and linked to sophisticated computer analysis equipment.
