Wide-bore MRI solved a specific problem that the industry had been working around for years: how to deliver high-field image quality in a bore geometry that patients actually tolerate. The standard 60 cm bore that characterized most superconducting MRI systems through the 1990s and early 2000s was adequate for a particular body type but caused real scanning difficulty for larger patients and created anxiety in a significant fraction of the general population. The wide-bore category, defined roughly as 70 cm bore diameter and above, addressed both concerns without sacrificing the image quality advantages of 1.5T or 3T field strength.
The most significant commercial introduction in this space was the Siemens Magnetom Aera, a 1.5T system with a 70 cm bore, which proved that a wider bore could coexist with strong clinical performance. That platform and its successors, including systems from GE HealthCare, Philips, and Canon Medical, now represent a large share of new MRI installations. The wide-bore standard has, in many ways, become the default rather than a specialty option.
We finance wide-bore MRI systems for outpatient imaging centers, hospital departments, and specialty practices. The project scope is the same as any high-field superconducting installation: magnet, ancillary hardware, shielding, chiller, and siting. Our minimum is $50,000; most wide-bore projects fall between $600,000 and $2 million fully installed.
Wide-Bore Clinical and Technical Context
A wider bore creates two distinct benefits. The first is patient comfort. A 70 cm bore is roughly 16 percent wider than a 60 cm bore, which reduces the enclosed feeling and allows the bore walls to be further from the patient's face and shoulders during most head and body scans. For many patients who describe mild-to-moderate claustrophobia, a 70 cm bore is the difference between tolerating the scan and requiring sedation or refusing the study entirely.
The second benefit is technical. A wider bore allows larger coils to be positioned closer to the anatomy being imaged, which can improve SNR for body imaging applications. It also creates more working room for interventional procedures where the bore must accommodate the patient and the interventionalist's hands or instrumentation simultaneously.
The siting requirements for a wide-bore system are essentially the same as for a standard-bore system of the same field strength. A wider bore does not change the fringe field profile meaningfully, so the RF shielding specification and the 5 gauss exclusion zone are determined by the field strength, not the bore diameter. The shielding cost for a 70 cm 1.5T system is comparable to a 60 cm 1.5T system in the same room size.
The Siemens Magnetom Espree, a 1.5T system with a 70 cm bore and a notably shorter magnet body (125 cm vs. the typical 160 cm), was specifically designed for facilities where room length is constrained. That configuration is particularly useful for retrofit installations in existing rooms that cannot accommodate a full-length magnet. We finance the Magnetom Espree as new and used equipment.
Who Benefits from Wide-Bore Financing
General-purpose imaging centers see the widest benefit from the wide-bore configuration because their patient population is diverse by definition. Any facility that does not pre-screen patients for bore tolerance will encounter claustrophobic and larger patients in the normal course of operations. A wide-bore system reduces the rate of incomplete or aborted studies, which directly improves scanner utilization and reduces the operational cost of managing scan failures.
Oncology centers and cancer care facilities benefit because oncology patients frequently have anxiety and fatigue that makes a smaller bore more difficult to tolerate. Body imaging protocols used in cancer staging and treatment monitoring are also frequently performed with wide body coils that benefit from the wider bore geometry.
Bariatric medicine programs and facilities that serve obese patient populations have a practical requirement for the wider bore. Many wide-bore systems support patient weights above 550 lbs, which opens the patient population considerably compared to standard-bore systems.
Financing Terms for Wide-Bore Systems
New wide-bore 1.5T systems are priced similarly to standard-bore 1.5T systems from the same manufacturers, typically in the $700,000 to $1.5 million range fully installed depending on software package and siting scope. Wide-bore 3T systems command a premium, reflecting the additional engineering required to maintain high field homogeneity in a larger bore volume, and typically run $1.8 million to $3 million or more.
Used wide-bore systems, particularly the Siemens Magnetom Espree and Aera in 1.5T, are available in the secondary market and can offer significant savings over new. A used Espree in good condition with a current software version might be acquired for $250,000 to $500,000 installed, making it accessible under application-only financing.
Term lengths of 60 to 84 months are standard for new wide-bore transactions. For the loan structure, the practice owns the system at payoff; for the lease structure, an end-of-term buyout or return option is defined at closing. We model both options so the financial comparison is clear before the commitment is made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions we hear most often from buyers evaluating wide-bore MRI financing.
Get a Quote on Wide-Bore MRI Financing
Wide-bore MRI systems represent one of the strongest volume-growth investments in diagnostic imaging. Bring us the project scope and we will prepare a financing proposal that covers the full installed cost. Contact our team for a same-day rate indication.