A $5 million, 17-ton MRI scanner will be lifted by crane and lowered through the roof of the Wayne State University Neuroimaging Research Facility located at Harper University Hospital on Tuesday, April 25 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

This 4T MRI system, acquired by the Wayne State University School of Medicine, is the highest field MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner in the state of Michigan, and one of only 10 in the country. It is the most advanced machine available to provide real-time views of the human brain and to measure more than 40 different chemicals in the brain. This technology will allow WSU researchers to advance drug discovery and have a better understanding of many diseases including depression, stroke, epilepsy, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, migraines and mental illness.

After being custom-designed and built in Oxford, England, the Varian Inc. 4T system is currently en route to Detroit and is expected to arrive on the WSU School of Medicine campus on April 22. It will be lowered through a 10-foot-by-10-foot skylight in Harper University Hospital between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on April 25.

Full installation and calibration of the machine is expected to take approximately 12 weeks. A grand opening and full media demonstration will be in July.