An MR system requires approximately 2,000 liters of liquid helium to keep the magnet cool and superconductive for imaging patients. When supply chain issues disrupt access to helium, it sends the price up and puts hospitals and imaging centers in a precarious position.

Geopolitical events like the war in Ukraine, as well as climate change, privatization of helium reserves, and a rise in demand have done just this, straining budgets for hospitals, the largest end-users in the market, which are already in the red from years of declining margins and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In light of these circumstances, the U.S. federal government signaled in January that it might be rethinking the previously planned sale of the Federal Helium Reserve, an underground structure that provides about 40% of the world’s helium.

But conserving helium requires providers to make changes as well and step up to the plate with strategies of their own, says Dr. Scott Reeder, a radiologist and chief of MRI at UW Health, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and president of the International Society for MR in Medicine.

“Ensuring a reliable, predictable and sustainable supply for helium is essential to ensure that the healthcare sector can continue to provide access to MR services,” he told HCB News.

Inflating prices
With a boiling point of -452 degrees Fahrenheit, liquid helium is the coldest element on earth and must remain at that temperature to keep MR scanners operating. Any leaks, such as those caused by faulty or damaged components like coldheads and chillers, lead to costly repairs and replacement helium.

“The prices of helium in many cases have doubled since January 2022," helium consultant Phil Kornbluth told NBC News earlier this year. "Contract prices have increased 50 to 100%, in some cases, even more.”

The situation has been exacerbated by unplanned helium plant shutdowns over the last few years in the U.S., Russia and Quatar, all three of which are among the largest suppliers worldwide. U.S. sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have also limited distribution, with countries outside of Russia taking on more of the demand, even with heavily depleted sources.

These supply chain disruptions have led some academic research labs to temporarily shut down their MR spectroscopy and MR nuclear systems, while others have had to pay a 30% premium for helium to keep their scanners operational, according to the Radiological Society of North America.

Helium is a nonrenewable resource that is produced by the radioactive decay of uranium or thorium within the earth’s crust. The process takes millennia, and once the element reaches the surface, it escapes into space, making the earth’s supply finite and irreplaceable.

An uncertain future
Currently, the largest global supplier is the Federal Helium Reserve in the U.S., established in 1925. In 1996, the U.S. government passed the Helium Privatization Act to sell off parts of the reserve to private companies to cut stockpile expenses, which had exceeded $1 billion. This led the private sector to cut back on its own helium production, which contributed later on to demand surpassing supply.

While originally scheduled to be completely sold off by September 2021, no sale has occurred yet, with the government issuing a notice in January seeking public comments on whether there is increasing risk for a helium-supply disruption, a move some experts have interpreted as the government possibly rethinking its decision to sell off the facility.

While Reeder says cooperation with these entities is essential to conservation efforts, providers must also adopt their own helium-conserving practices, namely, spreading awareness about the role that helium plays in MR scanning and other areas of healthcare.

“General strategies aimed at avoiding low-priority use of helium (for example, balloons) and the creation of secure supply chains and perhaps strategic reserves are needed,” he said.

MR providers should also invest in regular maintenance inspections to ensure MR components are functioning properly, as well as incorporate remote maintenance technologies and resources like freeze protection for coldheads.

In the last few years, manufacturers have also introduced scanners that use a fraction of the helium in traditional systems or none at all. In 2018, Philips unveiled its Ingenia Ambition X 1.5T MR scanner, which is initially charged with seven liters of helium when first set up and does not require more throughout its operational life. It followed this up in 2021 with its MR 5300 1.5T system.

While this new generation of scanners can hugely reduce a facility's helium dependency, Reeder says these systems are unlikely to replace the global fleet of traditional MR systems any time soon.

“New breakthroughs in superconducting magnets that could be operated at higher temperatures (for example, at liquid nitrogen temperatures) would be needed to obviate the need for liquid helium. In my opinion, this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future,” he said.