A hospital in Mangaluru, India, could be facing a helium shortage due to supply chain disruptions caused by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, according to Indian media.
The Wenlock District Hospital currently has enough helium in stock for just one week, with MRI services likely to be impacted if fresh supplies do not arrive soon.
The hospital has already reduced MRI scans from around 13 per day to just five or six emergency cases. According to a representative from Hind Labs, which operates the MRI facility, only around 5% of the helium supply remains.
According to Mangalore Today, the hospital placed an order for helium six months ago, but the shipment has yet to arrive.
An official at the centre said the MRI machine, installed in 2017, typically requires a helium refill every three months. However, its last refill took place around eight months ago. Over the same period, the price of helium has risen from around Rs 1,800 ($18.70) to nearly Rs 5,000 ($51.90) per litre.
Krishna Bhat, an official at the centre, said newer MRI systems introduced after 2019 are much more helium efficient, typically requiring a refill only once every two years compared with every three months for the hospital’s older scanner.
A standard MRI scanner contains around 1,500 to 2,000 litres of liquid helium to cool its superconducting magnets. While older systems can lose helium through boil-off over time, newer zero-boil-off designs recycle the gas internally, dramatically reducing consumption.
Wenlock District Hospital ©H.S. Manjunath
If helium levels fall too low, the magnet can quench, requiring the system to be refilled before the scanner can return to service.
Officials said that if the remaining helium is exhausted completely, it would cost around Rs 70 lakh (approximately $80,000) to refill and recommission the MRI scanner.
In response, Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader instructed officials to arrange MRI scans for Wenlock patients at the nearby KMC Hospital under the Ayushman Bharat – Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) scheme at no additional cost should the hospital’s MRI service be suspended.
Khader asked officials to find an immediate solution, adding that the helium shortage could not simply be attributed to the war, suggesting that other factors are at play.
It is not yet clear whether other hospitals have been affected. gasworld has contacted AIIGMA for comment.
India has no domestic helium production or strategic reserves, leaving it entirely reliant on imports. The country consumes around 10 million cubic metres of helium each year, with around half sourced from Qatar.
The disruption comes as industry analysts warn the global helium market could be entering a new shortage cycle following the loss of Qatari supply.
Speaking at the gasworld Specialty Gas Summit in June, consultant Phil Kornbluth said the industry was facing a critical question over whether the current disruption would prove to be a temporary supply shock or mark the start of ““
