Magnetic shielding through the use of high permeability material. The iron provides a return path for the stray field lines of magnetic flux and so significantly decreases the flux away from the magnet.
Passive shielding (see also Faraday cage) significantly eases the problems of siting a MR imager in a confined space. Ferromagnetic objects are less prone to being attracted to the magnet, ancillary electronic equipment, credit cards and computer disks can be brought closer to the magnet and the MRI safety limit for pacemaker wearers (the 5 gauss line = 0.5 mT) is reduced from, typically, 10 m to 2 m from the magnet. A passive shield for a whole-body MRI magnet weights many tons. An alternative method of controlling stray field is active shielding.

See also Active Shielding, Magnetic Shielding, Self Shielding and Room Shielding.

Manufactured by Esaote S.p.A.; compact in-office MRI system, fits in a 90 ft² (8.4 m²) space and requires no shielding or special power. This low field MRI magnet is optimized for orthopedic use and imaging of the extremities.
The C-SCANâ„¢ is developed from the ARTOSCANâ„¢ - M with a new computer platform, and is also known as Artoscan C.
Esaote North America and Hologic Inc. are the U.S. distributors of this MRI device.

Developed by GE Lunar; the ARTOSCANâ„¢-M is designed specifically for in-office musculoskeletal imaging. ARTOSCAN-M's compact, modular design allows placing within a clinical environment, bringing MRI to the patient. Patients remain outside the magnet at all times during the examinations, enabling constant patient-technologist contact. ARTOSCAN-M requires no special RF room, magnetic shielding, special power supply or air conditioning.
The C-SCANâ„¢ (also known as Artoscan C) is developed from the ARTOSCANâ„¢ - M, with a new computer platform.

From GE Healthcare;
the Signa Ovationâ„¢ is a patient-friendly open MRI scanner designed not only to handle a typical patient mix, but to accommodate larger patients, patients who are claustrophobic, and others who have difficulty tolerating the close quarters of conventional MR machines.

From Esaote S.p.A.; Esaote introduced the new G-SCAN at the RSNA in Dec. 2004. The G-SCAN covers almost all musculoskeletal applications including the spine. The tilting gantry is designed for scanning in weight-bearing positions. This unique MRI scanner is developed in line with the Esaote philosophy of creating high quality MRI systems that are easy to install and that have a low breakeven point.