Experience of how to build an MRI machine from scratch

Nuclear magnetic resonance instruments are becoming available to the do-it-yourself community, and there is increasing interest in the practical aspects of building a magnetic resonance imaging instrument from scratch. This review is focused on the different steps involved in such an endeavour, the challenges encountered and their solutions; it is based on experience gained at a four-day "hackathon" (named "ezyMRI") at Singapore University of Technology and Design in spring 2024. One day of this event was devoted to educational lectures and three days to system construction and testing; seventy young researchers from all parts of the world formed six teams focusing respectively on magnet, gradient coil, RF coil, console, system integration, and design, which together produced a working MRI instrument in three days.