MR Technology Beyond 4T

Compared to the present clinical field strengths, MR at 47 and above promises to improve anatomic imaging quality by factors, and to bring metabolic and functional imaging to the forefront of research and diagnostic modalities. While human bore sized magnets as high as 9.4T are now installed, realization of the potential benefit of these magnets will require more of the MR system than a simple field, frequency or power scaling from technologies used at lower fields. New constraints on the high field MR studies, both physical and physiological, will require new technical developments to be considered for the highest field systems.