Going International

ETS-Lindgren retains manufacturing, sales and service offices throughout the world. The Americas account for about 64 percent of the company's business; Asia now holds about 23 percent and about 13 percent of their business is based in Europe. Asia may commandeer as much as 30 percent of the company's business over the next year or two, says Giacone.

Professional Installations has anchored three jobs in Mexico and projects in Greece, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and three in India. "I've never been busier," said Mansfield. A lot of shielding is going up for 1.5 Tesla and open MRI scanners in developing countries. "In the U.S. it's about equal between high field and open systems."

Newcomers to the U.S.

IMEDCO America made the transition to the U.S. in the mid 1990s, but it has been a process, says Krachon. "Our first U.S. sale was in 1994, but it was not until the late '90s or early 2000s that we were really able to make a significant dent in this market. Domestic production positions us to be more competitive with pricing and lead times as all of our shielding competitors are based here in the US."

Other companies may be forced to lay off workers, but IMEDCO America's expansion and added manufacturing in the U.S. has led to a 20 percent increase in their personnel. Upgrades to higher field systems are occurring - not all hospitals and imaging centers are at an MR scanner stalemate.

"We have been able to hold the overall business steady due to the economies realized by local production," says Krachon. "There has also been an increase in services such as drawings and planning contracts, testing services and shield modifications due to the number of upgrades taking place to support newer and higher-field magnets."

High-Field projects

The strength of the magnet is a huge factor in determining what kind and how much shielding is required. In possibly the highest-profile install to date, ETS-Lindgren provided the shielding for the highest-field magnet on record for whole body MRI scans-the University of Illinois' 9.4 Tesla magnet in Chicago. This 57-ton magnet produces a magnetic field 100,000 stronger than the earth's magnetic field. For this project, shielding crews welded two to three-inch thick steel plates to create both an RF and magnetic shield.

"With a 9.4 Tesla magnet, there are a lot of shielding issues there," Giacone says. "We actually had to put 520 tons of steel plate around the magnet."

Back down in the 3 Tesla range, Hospitals that have budgeted for high-field upgrades should not only take RF shielding into account, but also magnetic shielding. "A lot of the new, higher-field magnets require magnetic shielding," says Jacobs. "[In these cases] RF and magnetic shielding go hand in hand."

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