Towards Sustainable Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Insights from long-term, high-resolution energy recordings across an entire scanner fleet

@misc{raab2026towards,
  title = {{Towards Sustainable Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Insights from long-term, high-resolution energy recordings across an entire scanner fleet}},
  author = {Florian Leonhard Raab and Fiona Mankertz and Nour Maalouf and Josephine Berger and Andreas Lingg and Reza Dehdab and Sebastian Werner and Judith Herrmann and Andreas Brendlin and Sebastian Gassenmaier and Suhas Siddaramu and Fabian Wagner and Julian Wohlers and Shreeja Varadarajan and Gurlal Singh and Jens Gühring and Rainer Schneider and Konstantin Nikolaou and Saif Afat and Thomas Küstner},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.25150},
  eprint = {2609.25150},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25150},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Towards Sustainable Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Insights from long-term, high-resolution energy recordings across an entire scanner fleet
AU  - Florian Leonhard Raab
AU  - Fiona Mankertz
AU  - Nour Maalouf
AU  - Josephine Berger
AU  - Andreas Lingg
AU  - Reza Dehdab
AU  - Sebastian Werner
AU  - Judith Herrmann
AU  - Andreas Brendlin
AU  - Sebastian Gassenmaier
AU  - Suhas Siddaramu
AU  - Fabian Wagner
AU  - Julian Wohlers
AU  - Shreeja Varadarajan
AU  - Gurlal Singh
AU  - Jens Gühring
AU  - Rainer Schneider
AU  - Konstantin Nikolaou
AU  - Saif Afat
AU  - Thomas Küstner
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/21
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.25150
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25150
AB  - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is among the most energy-intensive diagnostic modalities in healthcare, yet its energy consumption and the factors influencing it remain insufficiently understood. This study aims to establish a comprehensive baseline of MRI energy consumption by characterizing energy demand across a scanner fleet, examining scanner utilization and operating patterns in clinical practice. Concurrently, it investigates the relationships between energy consumption and relevant operational and acquisition features. On average, a single MRI measurement consumed 0.43 kWh, while a complete examination consumed 13.50 kWh. In general, substantial differences in energy consumption were observed between MRI scanners and their corresponding operating modes (scan, idle, and eco-power mode). These variations may be related to differences in scanner operating patterns, employed examination protocols, and their resulting acquisition parameters. Idle and eco-power modes accounted for more cumulative energy consumption than active scanning. However, these energy shares should always be interpreted in relation to scanner occupancy, as utilization patterns strongly influence the distribution of energy across those operating modes. Lastly, linear regression analysis showed that energy consumption was more strongly associated with scan duration than with average power, suggesting that scan duration may be an important factor influencing MRI energy consumption. ...
ER  -