The magnet for a new MRI at Lake of the Woods District Hospital has been delivered.
But it was anything but routine.
Highway 17 west of Kenora was closed for several hours on Saturday morning due to an accident, and that was a worry for director of Diagnostic Imaging at the hospital, Sean Hailstone.
“The magnet actually has to be cool at all times,” explains Hailstone.
“So, the magnet has been in Calgary in a sea can container with liquid helium to cool it. If the magnet comes up to room temperature at all, then it damages the integrity of the magnet and down the road we would have issues with the MRI scans. So, it’s a pretty big project, and quite an ordeal to move a magnet around and install it.”
He adds the delay on the highway did not affect the magnet.
This is the first phase of the installation of the MRI.
The actual imaging of patients won’t take place until September.
(Photo courtesy of Lake of the Woods District Hospital)
