The major challenge of designing a high field magnet with the required characteristics has been addressed by a novel magnetic circuit design that combines a high efficiency and an open geometry to achieve a 1.5 T field intensity in an almost unrestricted space.

It will be a superconducting magnet with field oriented along a horizontal axis. The project is highly innovative from the point of view of the magnet structure since it combines a complete field recirculation within the structure with the exploitation of non-planar windings. As a consequence the overall efficiency, in terms of field intensity per unit of maximum current density, is optimized and the stray field will be comparable to that of current shielded, tunnel shaped magnets. Although the design departs from conventional practice, it relies on manufacturing techniques that have already been used in different fields, like high energy physics.

A relevant part of the project will deal with the optimization of the structure, to make it easier to transfer the design to cost sensitive applications, such as conventional clinical imaging.