The magnet is always on!

Many people expect that with the flick of a switch we can turn off our magnet. This is not the case for most conventional MRI scanners.

Per Faraday's law, when electricity is run through a coil of wire, a magnetic field is created.

An MRI scanner is a superconducting magnet. It is made up of superconductive coils of wire. Current is introduced into the wires and then cooled using liquid helium at the temperature of 4 Kelvin (- 270°C). This creates no resistance to the electric current leaving the magnetic field active for as long as the MRI scanner is operational.  

Our magnet has been on for more than 5000 days, and remains as strong as day one!