published on 08/31/2022
At the beginning of June, Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions established a new service out of our Mexico City warehouse: cooling and storing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems in a specially designed cryo farm.
The addition of our cryo farm operations builds on our existing warehouse management services for sensitive medical devices and strengthens the 360-degree solution we offer. Our team has decades of specialized expertise, and we provide a full-service experience for our customers — including specialized warehousing, installation, transportation, and maintenance & repair for large and high-value medical devices, such as MRIs, ultrasounds, and RF cabins — so they can focus on their core business.
MRIs require a significant amount of energy to maintain large magnetic fields via superconductivity. The machines use liquid helium to cool their magnetic coils and conduct electrical current without resistance. Shipping and storing MRIs is challenging because they are often not cooled while in transit and quickly being exposed to experience helium loss— a major concern for OEMs and hospitals during the current global helium shortage. If too much of the helium is lost, the cost to re-cool the magnet will cost tens of thousands of dollars and requires a month of highly skilled labor with specialized tooling. Plus, all of this can be delayed weeks or even months if the significant amount of helium needed is not readily available.
Our cryo farm provides the space and utilities necessary to safely cool and store MRIs prior to first delivery or during relocation, including an indoor environmentally controlled rigging area. Our Mexico City warehouse currently has space for up to three MRIs, and we will soon scale up to our full capacity of storage for 10 MRIs. We have flexible pricing options to meet different needs: customers can reserve a fixed bay for their exclusive use whenever they need it, or they can use a bay for a short-term reservation based on availability. We also have technicians trained in rigging magnets on and off of the trucks and connecting the necessary cooling equipment for several different magnets.
Hegele’s cryo farm is addressing an unmet need in the market, and OEMs have welcomed the launch of the new operation. One customer has already reserved an exclusive bay for ongoing use, and we are looking forward to continued growth in this specialized service.
Learn more about Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions’ warehouse management services.
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