Elekta to launch helium recycler for MEG technology

Elekta has demonstrated a work-in-progress helium recycler that will help make magnetoencephalography (MEG) programmes cheaper and more sustainable.

The new zero helium boil-off technology for the company's Neuromag Triux MEG system nearly eliminates the need for liquid helium refills, potentially saving more than 1,300 gallons of liquid helium each year on a single system.

In doing so, it can dramatically decrease operating costs associated with functional brain mapping, while ensuring that system users will be largely unaffected by liquid helium price increases or shortages.

This could be important, as the availability of liquid helium has been unstable in the last few years, due to extraction facilities being out of service and strategic helium reserves in the US being privatised.

Miikka Putaala, director of the MEG business line at Elekta Neuroscience, said: "The ability to have integrated helium recycling technology in Elekta Neuromag Triux comes at a critical time, and will enable our clinical and research users to continue their MEG programs cost-effectively and without interruptions."

The company is a leading developer of clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. It is based in Stockholm and employs around 3,500 staff worldwide.