Patent ID: 7486982

Claim:
A method of providing RF shielding for a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus comprising a substantially cylindrical NMR magnet configured for an NMR procedure, comprising: placing a patient on a radio-opaque holder having a rigid surface defining an opening at a magnet end that substantially matches an opening defined by a patient-end surface of the NMR magnet; adjoining the rigid surface of the holder to the patient-end surface of the NMR magnet so that the rigid surface abuts against the patient-end surface and electrically couples to a radio-opaque portion of a cryostat of the NMR magnet, the NMR magnet comprising a service end adjoined to a radio-opaque covering that is electrically coupled to the cryostat, thereby forming a substantially complete and substantially continuous RF shield operative to prevent RF signals from interfering with an NMR procedure conducted using the NMR magnet.