On the afternoon of March 17, 2023, the appraisal meeting for “7T Superconducting Animal MRI Magnet Device” led by Institute of Energy of Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center (hereinafter referred to as “Institute of Energy”) was successfully held in Hefei Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology (CRAFT) Park. Academician Wan Yuanxi of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Li Jiangang of ASIPP, Academician Chen Xianhui of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Zhao Hongwei of Institute of Modern Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher Li Laifeng of Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of CAS, Researcher Sun Yining of Institute of Intelligent Machines of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Researcher Chen Junling of ASIPP were invited as evaluation experts.

Before the meeting, academicians and experts inspected and observed the operation of the magnet device, and fully affirmed the imaging effect of it. At the meeting, after listening to the report of Dr. Zhou Chao, the head of the technical R&D team (executive deputy director of the Superconducting Technology Application Center of the Institute of Energy) on the core technology and process, R&D progress and achievements, application scenarios and prospects of such device, the experts put forward valuable opinions and suggestions. After appraisal, the experts agreed that the appraisal materials of scientific and technological achievements submitted by Institute of Energy are complete, scientific and standardized, and the technical achievements are innovative, advanced and practical, indicating that the performance index of the system has initially reached the level of similar international systems and a solid step to realize domestic substitution. At the same time, the experts also recognized the scientific research work organized by Institute of Energy and the staged outcomes realized.

Fig.1: Prototype of the device