A low-field SQUID MRI system: design, performance and characterization.

A low-field MRI system with SQUID detector and gradiometer sense coil readout is being developed for clinical imaging. The system is compact and low-weight and operates in minimally shielded environment. An in-vivo image of human hand with sensitive field of view of 3cm, in-plane resolution of 1mm and 4mm slice width can be acquired in $\sim $5 minutes. We discuss the system design, optimization, noise characteristics~and imaging performance of the~apparatus.~