By Tim Bonfield
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Getting a 12-foot-tall, 19-ton magnet inside the University of Cincinnati Medical Center is no simple task.

The magnet that forms the core of the functional magnetic resonance imaging system made by Varian Inc. took about five months to build at a plant in Oxford, England. It took several months to renovate part of UC's medical sciences building to house it.

After transporting the magnet by ship to New York, then by truck to Cincinnati, it was expected to take about two days just to move the giant donut from its truck to its ultimate destination.

A doorway inside a basement-level loading dock had to be expanded. An elevator shaft had to be reinforced with steel I-beams to allow a hydraulic lifting system to hoist the magnet up one floor.

Then, about 100 feet of a hallway above the loading dock had to be reinforced with temporary struts and steel plates to bear the load of the magnet as it passed by.

The device actually sits on a ground floor, but had to be lifted up one level because the building is built into the side of a hill.

Meanwhile, the room housing the magnet also required special construction. The walls are lined with copper sheeting to form a "Faraday cage" that prevents radio waves and electronic emissions from cell phones, computers and other electronic devices from interfering with the extremely sensitive device.

UC officials plan to have the MRI system fully assembled and ready for patient studies by January.

E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com

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