Technical Facilities

7 Tesla MRI Scanner MAGNETOM™ Terra.X

The scanner has a powerful gradient unit for spatial encoding of the signals, which can generate up to 135 millitesla per meter along any spatial axis within 0.54 milliseconds. The resonance frequency for experiments with hydrogen atomic nuclei (“protons”) is 298 megahertz. In addition to hydrogen, other biologically significant stable nuclei (e.g., C-13, Na-23, P-31) can also be examined. Up to 16 parallel radiofrequency (RF) channels, each with 2 kilowatts of power, are available for transmission. On the receiving side, the system is equipped with 64 RF channels. Another special feature is a NeuroCam™ 7T head coil (manufacturer: Skope Magnetic Resonance Technologies). It can utilize the full number of available RF channels and also has an integrated magnetic field camera that can record field fluctuations during measurement and correct them during image reconstruction.

3 Tesla MRI Scanner MAGNETOM™ Skyra Connectom A

The MAGNETOM Skyra CONNECTOM A (Siemens Healthineers) went into operation in December 2016, replacing the institute's very first MRI machine (Bruker MedSpec™ 30/100; in operation since April 1997). It is one of three prototype 3T research systems worldwide, with the special feature being the AS302 whole-body gradient unit, which reaches a maximum amplitude of 300 millitesla per meter within a rise time of 1.5 milliseconds. This is made possible by a segmented gradient coil design, with four gradient amplifiers (900 A and 2,250 V each) used for each spatial direction. This allows for substantial performance improvements in diffusion-weighted MRI. Such images capture the random movement (“diffusion”) of water molecules in the tissue, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the anatomical connections between areas of the brain. This technique takes advantage of the fact that cell membranes and other obstacles influence the movement of water molecules, causing them to less hindered along nerve fibers than perpendicular to them. Diffusion measurements along different directions can be used to reconstruct the direction of nerve fibers and derive further information about their size or shape without neuroscientists being able to see the axons, which are only a few micrometers in size, directly.

The gradient coil weighs about 1.5 tons. During operation, an efficient throughput of cooling water is necessary to dissipate the heat generated by the high electrical power. Due to the space requirements of the gradient unit, the opening of the patient tunnel in this system is only 56 cm. As with all other 3T scanners at the institute, the magnetic field is about 60,000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field, and the resonance frequency for experiments with hydrogen nuclei is 123 megahertz. This system is also equipped with a magnetic field camera (Skope), which is integrated here into a custom-built head coil with 64 reception channels (in cooperation with Prof. Boris Keil, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen – University of Applied Sciences).
  

Other Interesting Articles:

• Press release December 12, 2016

3 Tesla MRI Scanner MAGNETOM™ Prisma^fit

The magnet (3 Tesla, 60-cm bore diameter) of this clinical system has been in operation since March 2003 (at that time MAGNETOM Trio and the first system of its kind with a whole-body RF coil). The scanner has been continuously updated with hardware and software upgrades to keep it at the cutting edge of technology, and since December 2014, it has been configured as MAGNETOM Prisma^fit (Siemens Healthineers). A whole-body gradient system generates gradients of up to 80 millitesla per meter in any direction within a rise time of 0.4 milliseconds. Various commercial RF coils are used to examine the human brain or spinal cord. In pulsed mode, the RF amplifier generates up to 35 kilowatts to drive the body coil. Up to 64 independent channels can be used simultaneously for signal reception with head coils.

3 Tesla MRI Scanner MAGNETOM™ Skyra^fit

This 3-Tesla scanner has been in operation since February 2011. In December 2016, it was upgraded to MAGNETOM Skyra^fit (Siemens Healthineers). Like the MAGNETOM Prisma^fit system, the device is mainly used for structural and functional neuroimaging studies on volunteer subjects. The magnet (approx. 6 tons) is relatively short at 1.73 meters and has a large bore with a diameter of 70 cm. A whole-body gradient system generates gradients of up to 40 millitesla per meter along any direction within a rise time of 0.2 milliseconds.

3 Tesla MRI Scanner MAGNETOM™ Cima.X

The 3-Tesla MAGNETOM Cima.X (Siemens Healthineers) has been in operation since May 2025. It is installed in rented premises at Leipzig University Hospital (Liebigstraße 18) and replaces an older MAGNETOM Verio that had been in operation since September 2010. The magnet has a particularly powerful whole-body gradient unit for clinical series devices with a maximum amplitude of 200 millitesla per meter along any spatial direction, which is achieved within a rise time of 1 millisecond. This magnet is also comparatively short (1.72 meters) and has an opening diameter of 60 cm. In addition to structural and functional neuroimaging studies, experiments with MRI-guided focused ultrasound are also conducted on this system.

9.4 Tesla MRI Scanner BioSpec™ 94/30

The BioSpec 94/30 (Bruker) is designed for preclinical studies and is used at the Institute for imaging studies on (fixed) brain specimens or small tissue samples. It was commissioned in December 2025 and is thus the institute's newest MRI scanner. The superconducting magnet has a field strength of 9.4 Tesla (about 188,000 times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field); the resonance frequency for experiments with hydrogen nuclei is 400 megahertz. With a diameter of 30 cm, the bore of the magnet is still large enough for imaging brain specimens from great apes, which are being studied as part of the collaborative project “Evolution of Hominoid Brain Connectomics (EBC)” of the Max Planck Institutes for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and for Evolutionary Anthropology. A gradient system with 300 millitesla per meter (rise time 0.26 milliseconds) is available for such larger specimens. In addition, there is a gradient insert for smaller samples that reaches 1,000 millitesla per meter in 0.11 milliseconds. Another feature for very small samples is a so-called cryo coil. During operation, it is cooled to approximately 23 degrees Kelvin (approx. –250 °C) and, due to the associated efficient thermal noise reduction, achieves a particularly high signal-to-noise ratio and allows investigations with particularly high spatial resolution.