WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE OF
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Citigroup Biomedical Research Facility

This project features out-of-the-ground construction of a state-of–the-art Biomedical Imaging Research Facility. This one of a kind building is home to a wide array of biomedical imaging machinery:

  • One Cyclotron Machine & Attendant Controls
  • Two 3.0Tesla MRI’s (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
  • Combination PET/CT Color System Suite
  • Three NMR Facility (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)
  • EEG Shielded Suite
Two of the three stories are underground levels to better shield the MRI. Also included in this building are three NMR machines, one laser-guided combination PET/CAT Scanner, two MRI machines with ultra-sonic knife for surgical use, and one Cyclotron that resides in a specially sealed vault.
The Cyclotron (left) is of particular interest due to the extraordinary shielding requirements, number of air changes per hour, processed chilled water required for the equipment, the HEPA and Carbon filtration of the air in the sealed room and the incredible air changes (20 to 63 per hour) required. The building is 100% outside air.

This project was the first of its kind to incorporate all these technologies within a single building. Previously all these items were constructed in multiple buildings. This project proved that both highly contaminated materials (air) and extremely strong magnetic fields could coexist and function successfully in an extreme urban environment.
This multi-use research building combines three very diverse clinical discipline’s needs under the roof of one overall facility. The lowest level houses the Cyclotron with walls three feet thick and a 30,000 pound lead-lined vault door. Access Control System guide entrants and technicians throughout this restricted level of the facility. The mid-level houses the NMR facility with space for three machines. The mid-level is also home to an MRI machine currently being used by General Electric as a test bed for new technologies. Although all of this machinery has vastly disparate needs with regards to HVAC, power and shielding requirements; the building was successfully designed and constructed to house, run and support them all.