W M Keck Foundation High-Field MRI Laboratory
The W. M. Keck Foundation High-Field MRI Laboratory, within the Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC), houses OHSU's only 7T and 12T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) instruments. The 12T MR Instrument was transported to the AIRC on April 22, 2006, with generous support from a $1.75 million grant provided by the W. M. Keck Foundation.
Magnetic field strengths are measured in Teslas. One Tesla represents a strength roughly 10,000 times that of the Earth's magnetic field. The 12T MRI instrument has a magnetic field 120,000 times stronger than that of the Earth.
The 11.75T instrument at OHSU is only the second in the world to have a magnet bore diameter as large as 31 cm – the other is housed at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Despite a larger field strength than that of the 7T MR Instrument, the 12T weighs less (only 12 tons or 24,000 pounds) and is smaller. It is designed for human health studies in animals.