Abstract: A permanent magnet assembly having a central elliptical bore, suitable for reception of a patient in an MRI system, is formed of a plurality of elliptically shaped sections disposed along an axis of the bore. Each section is subdivided into a plurality of segments in which each segment is constructed of bricks of magnetic material. Each brick has the shape of a right parallel piped. In any one of the segments, all of the bricks are arranged parallel to a common plane which is parallel to the bore axis. The bricks are magnetized with magnetization vector oriented in a common direction perpendicular to the plane. Full bricks are employed throughout all of the segments with the exception of a plurality of bricks along a surface of the bore wherein truncation of one or more of the bricks may be required to attain a desired homogeneity to a dipole magnetic field within the field.