Number 163 (Story #1), February 4, 1994 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein A MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SYSTEM developed by General Electric will permit real-time MRI scans during surgery. The new system employs several innovations; the first is the use of a pair of solenoid magnets rather than a single magnet, enabling the part of the body under operation to lie outside the magnet (but still subject to the high magnetic fields necessary for MRI) in a place accessible to a surgeon. Also, the system's niobium-tin magnet coils are kept superconducting at 10 K with a small cryocooler system rather than with liquid helium and its attendant large pressure vessel. High-temperature ceramic superconductors are used to connect the coils to an external power supply. The new system is undergoing tests at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. (Superconductivity News, 26 Jan 1994.)