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Growing through experiences

The team at our Magnetic Resonance (MR) site in Shenzhen, China, has driven the development of the MAGNETOM Free.Star – for the first time. For all colleagues worldwide involved, it was a challenging but at the same time inspiring experience.

5.5min
Marcus Klein
Published on September 19, 2022
Zhou Kun, Application Product Manager at MR in Shenzhen

The collaboration with our colleagues in Erlangen and Oxford was very close and intensive. I was also able to benefit personally from their experiences, which I can now use for further projects.

Zhou Kun, Application Product Manager at MR in Shenzhen

MAGNETOM Free.Star is designed to enable significantly better access to MRI worldwide, especially to rural areas like in China.

Overcoming numerous challenges

Working in different time zones was an advantage: When the team in Shenzhen started to work on project items, the colleagues in Erlangen could finish it afterwards.
Simone Mozzone, Project Manager at MR in Oxford

Working in such cultural variety has been very inspiring. You are exposed to new ideas and different way of working which contribute to innovate, improve our capacity to adapt and react to new challenges.

Simone Mozzone, Project Manager at MR in Oxford

MAGNETOM Free Star

The strong focus on the team encouraged everyone around the globe to take ownership. 

Jennifer Jones, New Markets at MR in Erlangen 

An inspiring and dynamic environment

detail in MR production

INFOBOX

MAGNETOM Free.Star

MAGNETOM Free.Star, like MAGNETOM Free.Max, belongs to the new generation of scanners from Siemens Healthineers with a field strength of 0.55 Tesla. MAGNETOM Free.Star has a patient bore of 60 centimeters and uses the DryCool magnet technology, which requires less than one liter of liquid helium to cool the MRI. Previously, several hundred liters of this scarce raw material were required for cooling. Additionally, the installation of a safety-related quench pipe was necessary, which allowed to discharge helium into the open air in case of an emergency. The large helium inventory as well as the construction measures are no longer necessary for the High-V MRI scanners. Because the compact systems can be rolled through normal hospital doors in many places, complex openings of the buildings can also be avoided during installation. The significantly reduced energy consumption adds a positive effect on operating costs as well. The costs over the entire life cycle of the system are up to 30 percent lower than with conventional scanners.

The field strength of 0.55 Tesla offers high diagnostic value thanks to AI-based reconstruction algorithms such as Deep Resolve Sharp. It raises the image quality to a level that could previously only be achieved with significantly higher field strengths. In addition, this new field strength offers advantages for clinical fields such as implant and lung imaging. Digital innovations such as myExam Companion, which significantly simplifies the operation and adjustment of the scanner, are designed to make it more accessible to inexperienced operators.

MAGNETOM Free.StarNews: Everyone deserves access to MR imaging
By Marcus Klein

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To be continued…