By Healthcare Facilities Today

When Cleveland Clinic added an ultra-high resolution 7T MRI scanner to its downtown Cleveland campus, transporting and installing an 80,000-pound magnet was just part of the challenge. It had to build the right facility to house such a powerful machine, according to an article of the Healthcare Design website.

Working with Hasenstab Architects of Akron, Ohio, the design-build project included constructing a 2,300-square-foot research facility that would comprise the MRI room, a technology and support room, control area, offices, and a mock scan room.

Dealing with a magnet weight that’s triple that of a typical diagnostic magnet was just one of the challenges the project faced, David Everhard, principal-in-charge, Hasenstab Architects, said in the article. The design team also had to isolate the magnet from any vibration and/or radio frequency interference  from outside sources.

To avoid problems, the team started with vibration testing at the site, which is located on an urban campus with buses and trucks running nearby. When the results couldn’t definitively tell whether vibrations would affect the magnet, the builders created a slab independent of the building foundation and on separate footings. 

“It’s kind of a standalone pedestal that the magnet sits on,” he said in the article.

Read the article and view the photo gallery.