Company type | Public limited company |
---|---|
ISIN | GB0006650450 |
Industry | Top level markets include research and academia, industry, energy, environment, security, health |
Founded | 1959 |
Headquarters | Abingdon, Oxfordshire |
Key people | Neil Carson (Chairman) Richard Tyson (CEO) Gavin Hill (CFO) Stephen Blair (Senior Independent Director) |
Products |
|
Revenue | £444.7 million (2023) [1] |
£80.5 million (2023) [1] | |
£58.6 million (2023) [1] | |
Number of employees | 2,027 (2023) [1] |
Website | www |
Oxford Instruments plc is a United Kingdom manufacturing and research company that designs and manufactures tools and systems for industry and research. The company is headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, with sites in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, and Asia. [2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. [3]
The company was founded by Sir Martin Wood in 1959, with help from his wife Audrey Wood (Lady Wood) [4] [5] to manufacture superconducting magnets for use in scientific research, starting in his garden shed in Northmoor Road, Oxford, England. [6] It was the first substantial commercial spin-out company from the University of Oxford [7] and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1983. [6]
It had a pioneering role in the development of magnetic resonance imaging, providing the first superconducting magnets for this application. The first commercial MRI whole body scanner was manufactured at its Osney Mead factory in Oxford in 1980 for installation at Hammersmith Hospital, London. [8] Further innovations included the development of active shielding, whereby fringe fields hazardous to pacemaker wearers, causing difficulty and expense in siting, were virtually eliminated. [9] Oxford Instruments was not able to capitalise on these inventions itself, granting royalty-free license to Philips and General Electric whilst developing a joint venture with Siemens in 1989: this was dissolved in 2004. [10]
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body. MRI does not involve X-rays or the use of ionizing radiation, which distinguishes it from computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans. MRI is a medical application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) which can also be used for imaging in other NMR applications, such as NMR spectroscopy.
Technological applications of superconductivity include:
A neodymium magnet (also known as NdFeB, NIB or Neo magnet) is a permanent magnet made from an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron to form the Nd2Fe14B tetragonal crystalline structure. They are the most widely used type of rare-earth magnet.
A superconducting magnet is an electromagnet made from coils of superconducting wire. They must be cooled to cryogenic temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire has no electrical resistance and therefore can conduct much larger electric currents than ordinary wire, creating intense magnetic fields. Superconducting magnets can produce stronger magnetic fields than all but the strongest non-superconducting electromagnets, and large superconducting magnets can be cheaper to operate because no energy is dissipated as heat in the windings. They are used in MRI instruments in hospitals, and in scientific equipment such as NMR spectrometers, mass spectrometers, fusion reactors and particle accelerators. They are also used for levitation, guidance and propulsion in a magnetic levitation (maglev) railway system being constructed in Japan.
The year 1980 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The tesla is the unit of magnetic flux density in the International System of Units (SI).
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is a facility at Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that performs magnetic field research in physics, biology, bioengineering, chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry. It is the only such facility in the US, and is among twelve high magnetic facilities worldwide. The lab is supported by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida, and works in collaboration with private industry.
Sir Martin Francis Wood, CBE, FRS, HonFREng was a British engineer and entrepreneur. He co-founded Oxford Instruments, one of the first spin-out companies from the University of Oxford and still one of the most successful. He created this business out of his research into magnets, and went on to build the first commercial MRI scanner, an invention that has saved millions of lives throughout the world.
Niobium–titanium (Nb-Ti) is an alloy of niobium and titanium, used industrially as a type II superconductor wire for superconducting magnets, normally as Nb-Ti fibres in an aluminium or copper matrix.
Northmoor Road is a residential street in North Oxford, England.
Siemens Healthineers is a German company which provides healthcare solutions and services. It was spun off from its parent company Siemens in 2017, which retains a 75% stake. Siemens Healthineers is the parent company for several medical technology companies and is headquartered in Erlangen, Germany.
Bruker Corporation is an American manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. It is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, and is the publicly traded parent company of Bruker Scientific Instruments and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies (BEST) divisions.
This page lists examples of magnetic induction B in teslas and gauss produced by various sources, grouped by orders of magnitude.
The physics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) concerns fundamental physical considerations of MRI techniques and technological aspects of MRI devices. MRI is a medical imaging technique mostly used in radiology and nuclear medicine in order to investigate the anatomy and physiology of the body, and to detect pathologies including tumors, inflammation, neurological conditions such as stroke, disorders of muscles and joints, and abnormalities in the heart and blood vessels among others. Contrast agents may be injected intravenously or into a joint to enhance the image and facilitate diagnosis. Unlike CT and X-ray, MRI uses no ionizing radiation and is, therefore, a safe procedure suitable for diagnosis in children and repeated runs. Patients with specific non-ferromagnetic metal implants, cochlear implants, and cardiac pacemakers nowadays may also have an MRI in spite of effects of the strong magnetic fields. This does not apply on older devices, and details for medical professionals are provided by the device's manufacturer.
Elscint was an Israeli technology company that developed, manufactured and sold medical imaging solutions, including: Nuclear medicine, computed tomography magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray scanners. Elscint's shares traded on the NASDAQ as well as on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. At its height, Elscint was a world leader in the development of medical imaging technologies. Most of Elscint's activities were sold to GE Healthcare and Philips Medical Systems.
A shim is a device used to adjust the homogeneity of a magnetic field. Shims received their name from the purely mechanical shims used to adjust position and parallelity of the pole faces of an electromagnet. Coils used to adjust the homogeneity of a magnetic field by changing the current flowing through it were called "electrical current shims" because of their similar function.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company.
Nanalysis Scientific Corp. is a scientific instrument manufacturer based in Calgary, AB, Canada. Established in 2009, Nanalysis specializes in the production of compact Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic instrumentation. As a new public company it is trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the ticker symbol NSCI since June 2019, and later on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA) under the ticker symbol 1N1.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is in general a safe technique, although injuries may occur as a result of failed safety procedures or human error. During the last 150 years, thousands of papers focusing on the effects or side effects of magnetic or radiofrequency fields have been published. They can be categorized as incidental and physiological. Contraindications to MRI include most cochlear implants and cardiac pacemakers, shrapnel and metallic foreign bodies in the eyes. The safety of MRI during the first trimester of pregnancy is uncertain, but it may be preferable to other options. Since MRI does not use any ionizing radiation, its use generally is favored in preference to CT when either modality could yield the same information.
Portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is referred to the imaging provided by an MRI scanner that has mobility and portability. It provides MR imaging to the patient in-time and on-site, for example, in intensive care unit (ICU) where there is danger associated with moving the patient, in an ambulance, after a disaster rescue, or in a field hospital/medical tent.