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by unethical_ban 1057 days ago
I believe MRIs use superconductivity, so I assume any application of superconductors that doesn't require heavy, large, energy-consuming cooling will benefit greatly.

Perhaps MRIs will become ubiquitous and cheap, something we all get every time we go to the doctor?

Superconduction also has some weird magnetic properties I believe, so there could be benefits regarding maglev transport.

And finally and most basically, the movement of electrical energy across potentially large distances with zero loss would be a great thing.

1 comments

I have no real idea what I'm talking about but figure 1 has critical magnetic flux curve ranging up to 3000 Oe so... in MRI-speak maybe it tops out before 0.3T? IIRC permanent magnet MRI have already been built in the 0.3T range, but they're very heavy and outclassed by the higher-field scanners. Clinical MRI nowadays typically runs at 1.5-3T (with some clinical scanners at 5-7T).

Having said that there is a resurgence of interest in low-field MRI lately, primarily marketed for use in developing nations and for combination machines that integrate radiation therapy. From what I've heard from diagnostic radiologists, the low-field MRI scanners seem to be of limited diagnostic value on their own.

Anyway that's just my thought that the best/first applications here may not be about generating magnetic fields.