While the gradient set is water-cooled, the gradient cables and gradient filters still rely upon air cooling in many scanner suites, such as mine. In the case of the gradient filters, the filter box on my Siemens Trio came with an opaque cover, which we replaced with clear plastic to allow easy inspection and temperature monitoring with an infrared (IR) thermometer:
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| The gradient filter box in the wall behind my Siemens Trio magnet. It's up at ceiling height, in the lowest possible stray magnetic field. The clear plastic cover is custom. The standard box is opaque white. |
Siemens now has a smoke detector inside the gradient filter box, after at least one instance of the gradient filters disintegrating with excess heat. Still, a clear inspection panel is a handy thing to have.
The gradient cables between the filter box and the back of the magnet can also decay with use. If this happens, the load experienced by the gradient amplifier changes and this can affect gradient control fidelity. (More on this below.) The cables can be damaged by excess heat, and this damage leads to higher resistance which itself produces more heating. A classic feedback loop!
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| The Fluke 561 IR thermometer and a K type thermocouple, purchased separately. |
