On the move: MRI goes mobile
Max Planck Institute for Human Development celebrates new mobile MRI
The Max Planck Institute for Human Development’s new mobile MRI scanner brings state-of-the-art imaging directly to the field—without compromising data quality. The highly sensitive 1.5 Tesla enables researchers to study environmental influences on the brain in real conditions; trips into nature and to rural and remote regions are planned.
It is a cold January morning as the truck slowly comes to a halt in front of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. But this is no ordinary truck. Inside is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce high-resolution images of the brain. The scanner weighs 24 tons, is highly sensitive, and now mobile. Today, the mobile MRI was being presented to the public.
For the invited guests, as well as for the team who have spent long time planning calculating, negotiating, and testing, this was a special moment. The mobile MRI opens new avenues, allowing environmental influences on the brain to be examined directly on site—in nature, in rural areas, near architecturally interesting buildings, or in social contexts that have seldom been part of imaging research before now.
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
The mobile MRI arrived at the institute very early in the morning
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
Ulman Lindenberger, Managing Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, welcomed the participants and emphasised the importance of the mobile MRI for the institute's research infrastructure.
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
Christian Doeller, Vice President of the Max Planck Society, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
Simone Kühn, Director of the Center for Environmental Neuroscience, cut the ribbon.
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
The core team that literally got the mobile MRI on the road. From left to right: Katharina Schmalen, Franziska Kaiser, Christoph Aigner, Sebastian Schroeder and Thomas Feg.
Ceremonial inauguration of our mobile MRI
Over 70 guests celebrated the arrival of the mobile MRI scanner.A highly sensitive instrument goes out into the world
That an MRI can be mobile at all is anything but a matter of course. “An MRI scanner is an extremely sensitive scientific measuring instrument,” explains Christoph Aigner, a scientist in the Max Planck Research Group MR Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. “Normally, a scanner rests on a concrete slab weighing several tons, deep in the basement of a hospital or research facility—shielded, quiet, and immovable.”
The MPIB scanner, though, is transported in a specially outfitted trailer—and will in future travel over cobblestones, across country roads, and into remote regions. This presents an enormous challenge from a physics standpoint. An MRI relies on three central, highly sensitive components: a strong static magnetic field, a gradient system to spatially encode the signals, and high-frequency coils that measure extremely faint radio waves from the body. All three are sensitive to vibrations, temperature fluctuations, and electromagnetic interference from the environment.
No compromises on data quality
For a long time, it was unclear whether a mobile MRI scanner could deliver the same image quality as a stationary device. To determine this, the team at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development conducted extensive comparative measurements, examining the same test subjects in a stationary hospital MRI and in a rented mobile 1.5 Tesla scanner.
The result surprised even those involved. “We assumed that we would have to make compromises,” says Aigner. “But a pilot study showed that the data quality was equivalent. There is no significant difference between stationary and mobile measurements.” The fact that they did not need to compromise makes him optimistic about future studies.
Mobile—but not like before
Mobile MRI scanners are not in themselves new. Around the world, they are chiefly used in clinical contexts: for medical care in sparsely populated regions, as an interim solution during hospital renovations, or to extend capacity in the short-term. In Germany, too, such systems are employed in isolated cases.
What makes the Max Planck Institute for Human Development’s mobile MRI scanner special is its configuration and purpose. It is a fully-fledged scientific research device with a particularly powerful gradient system—more powerful than many standard clinical devices. “There are hardly any comparable mobile systems for research in this form anywhere in the world,” explains Aigner.
While clinical mobile MRIs are primarily used for medical care, the MPIB scanner is designed as an expedition vehicle: for field research in real-life environmental conditions, beyond hospitals, research facilities, and urban infrastructures.
Environmental neuroscience outside the lab
Mobile MRI is closely linked to the field of environmental neuroscience. In the face of urbanization and climate change, there is growing interest in how natural and built environments influence the brain, stress levels, and well-being. Until now, however, such studies have been severely constrained.
“If we wanted to investigate the effect of a walk in the forest, participants first had to go to the MRI lab, then out into nature, and then back to the MRI lab, and the distances involved required a taxi journey between the intervention of interest and our measuring of it,” explains Simone Kühn. She is Director of the Center for Environmental Neuroscience and investigates how our environment influences the brain and behavior. This separation between measurement and experience can not only be cumbersome, it can also distort results. In addition, many neuroscientific studies still work primarily with participants from urban areas or students, who are not representative of the population. “Mobile MRI now offers the opportunity to reduce this distortion in a targeted manner,” says Kühn.
This enables underrepresented demographic groups to be included in imaging research, a decisive advantage, especially in studies with children or hard-to-reach populations. For kindergarteners, for example, it is clearly easier to undergo an examination in a trusted setting – in a scanner located directly in front of the daycare. A mobile scanner also yields new opportunities for studies with prisoners: instead of costly, high-security transport, research can take place directly on site.
Logistics, shielding, and helium at minus 269 degrees
Anyone entering the trailer quickly realizes that this is no makeshift solution. Inside is the scanner, an operator area, and a changing room—spaces for working, preparing, and researching. Creating a comfortable atmosphere was a deliberate design choice. The interior decor is more reminiscent of a cozy apartment than a technical laboratory, with dark walnut flooring that forgives occasional traces of forest, sandstone-colored elements, and plenty of white. The aim is to foster an environment in which test subjects feel safe and at ease despite the unfamiliar situation.
But the trailer is only the core of a larger system. To ensure that the mobile MRI functions reliably, a complex infrastructure must travel with it. In addition to the scanner, tech support vehicles, participant transportation, and retreat rooms for the crew are planned. Continuous power supply is particularly critical. The MRI’s superconducting magnet is cooled to about minus 269 degrees Celsius with liquid helium. Were the cooling system to fail for an extended period of time, the helium would evaporate and need to be drained in a controlled manner.
For this reason, the trailer has an integrated diesel generator that guarantees cooling during transport. When stationary, the scanner should be connected to the local power grid or, in the future, be powered by renewable energy.
Sustainable operation as goal
A key goal of the project is the gradual transformation toward sustainable operation. Franziska Kaiser, who has been leading the project since September 2025, lends her expertise in this area. As the former managing director of the Mobility2Grid research campus (TU Berlin), she has many years of experience in the development of sustainable, networked systems and interdisciplinary project management.
In cooperation with partners from science and industry, research will be conducted to determine whether the towing vehicle could itself directly supply the mobile MRI with energy in the future. “The mobile MRI serves not only as an application, but also as a test platform,” explains Kaiser. “With it we are creating synergies between environmental, mobility, and energy research.”
For her, the mobile MRI is just the beginning. “If we can show that such a complex infrastructure can be operated reliably on the go, this will open up completely new perspectives,” she says. Further mobile labs, other configurations, or even more compact systems for international use are conceivable.
A larger study outside Europe is already in preparation – but realistically only after a learning period in Europe. “The further we move away from the institute, the more important logistics become,” Kaiser notes. “That’s why we’re learning step by step.”
