MRI Safety Education
While Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a generally accepted safe technique, it comes with a host of safety issues which always require precaution. Therefore, MRI Safety Education is essential for healthcare professionals working in the MRI environment or those that refer patients for MRI scans. This will greatly help reduce the risk of injuries from failed safety procedures, and also continuously improve the safety and accessibility of MRI exams.
Well, MRI safety can be divided into the following 3 aspects:
1. MRI safety on the Main Magnetic Field
A typical magnet of an MRI scanner has a powerful main magnetic field, which is about 30, 000 times stronger than the earth’s magnetic field. Unfortunately, with such
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Also, smaller objects like hearing aids, watches, bobby pins, zippers, underwires, hairpins, and jewelry that have metallic threads or fasteners are known to be pulled off the patients carrying them. So, it is vital that they are removed before the MRI exam.
There are other MR-Unsafe devices such as the many pacemakers, aneurysm clips, and cochlear implants. Several deaths have been reported in cases where patients with aneurysm clips and pacemakers have undergone the MRI scans without taking the right precautions. What usually happens is that when these objects interact with the forces produced by the magnetic fields, they bring about heating or torque.
If a patient has a bullet, shrapnel or any other metallic shell fragment in their body, there is a risk of these objects changing positions and possibly causing harm to the most vital organs during an MRI scan. In some cases, the objects may distort the MR images or cause signal
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So, it is important for MRI healthcare practitioners to find out the exact location of the IUD before and after the scan.
2. MRI Safety on Varying Magnetic Fields (Gradient fields)
The Varying Magnet Fields play an essential role in obtaining MR Images. When the magnetic field is changed, electrical currents in the conductors are induced. This means that patients with metal foreign bodies or surgical implants face a potential risk of electrical currents being induced in the metals, leading to heating. However, this doesn’t always occur to every patient. For example, some patients with hip prosthesis can be scanned without experiencing any harm.
Please note that, changing the magnetic fields more rapidly may result in nerve stimulation, which can also affect the motor nerves — resulting in muscle contraction and magnetophosphenes. Magnetophosphenes basically causes current within the retina, resulting in the illusion of light.
3. MRI Safety — Radiofrequency (RF) Power
Next, we will discuss the problems identified in the case study. The first problem is design deficiency especially in the MRI room and on the oxygen tank. As explained previously, there is poor communication in the MRI room due to the absence of microphone to inform the technologist in the console room about the existing problem. The oxygen tank meanwhile did not have a proper indication panel that informs the state of the oxygen level in the tank. Design deficiency is a major problem because in a state of inadequacy, needed materials for the safety and optimal environment cannot be
My interest in MRI started when I first read the book “MRI, The Basics” written by the author Ray Hashemi. By the time I successfully finished my MRI clinical placement in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, I knew for sure that MRI would be the field I would be choosing to take on. What attracts me most about MRI is how beautifully scientist could create a technology that can take advantage of the magnetic moments of human body for imaging it without any harms of ionizing radiation. Although there are drawbacks to MRI, combining it with other modalities would be a more effective approach to an accurate diagnosis.
In the radiology profession first you must write the patient’s file. This includes information about insurance, medical history, what the required x-ray is for and where it is going to be taken on the body. Writing in this way is similar to writing a small research paper. You must do research on the patients and there history and what insurance they have. Writing the report is important because the information must be accurate so the patient can be helped as much as possible. If the information about medical history is incorrect it can cause a huge problem for the patient. For example, if the patient is claustrophobic they would need to get an open room x-ray where the patient isn’t in an enclosed tube so they don’t have a panic attack and potentially injure themselves and others. It is very important to make sure the report has the correct area of where the x-ray needs to be taken. Having the wrong part of the body x-...
When taking a radiograph there are some precautions that can be taken to reduce some of the radiation that can be exposed to a patient, what would be used on all patients is call a lead apron and thyroid collar, these aprons are used to protect the patients that may be a bit more radiosensitive and also may give the patient a little of reassurance that they will be protected. “Radiosensitivity is the relative susceptibility of cells, tissues, organs, organisms, or other substances to the injurious action of radiation.”
The MRI, on the other hand is less expensive and much safer (as it doesn’t expose the patient to potentially harmful radioactive chemicals). The MRI or magnetic resonance imaging device, as an safer alternative, applies a powerful magnetic field around the head of the patient.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been around since the 1930s. An MRI machine has a great purpose in the medical field. It is a radiology technique that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images of body structures, such as a patient’s head, chest, blood vessels, bones and joints, and much more. MRI machines help doctors figure out what is wrong with their patient's bodies. It allows doctors to take a closer look at a certain location and see things that other machines cannot see. By using this machine, it helps doctors figure out the problem faster and allows them to try and find a treatment or a cure.
During the late 1970's, the world of diagnostic imaging changed drastically due to the introduction of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, also known as MRI. For over 30 years, they have grown to become one of the most significant imaging modalities found in the hospitals and clinics ("EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND FACULTY INFORMATION"). During its ancient days, these machines were referred to as NMRI machines or, “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” The term “nuclear” comes from the fact that the machine has the capability of imaging an atom's nucleus. Eventually, the term was dropped and replaced with just MRI, because “nuclear” did not sit well with the public view ("EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND FACULTY INFORMATION"). Many people interpreted the machine to produce an excess amount of radiation in comparison to the traditional X-ray machine. What many of them were unaware of, MRI does not disperse a single ounce of ionizing radiation making it one of the safest diagnostic imaging machine available to this date. MRI machines actually use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce high quality images consisting of precise details that cannot be seen on CT (Computed Tomography) or X-ray. The MRI magnet is capable of fabricating large and stable magnetic fields making it the most important and biggest component of MRI. The magnet in an MRI machine is measured on a unit called Tesla. While regular magnets commonly use a unit called gauss (1 Tesla = 10,000 gauss). Compared to Earth's magnetic field (0.5 gauss), the magnet in MRI is about 0.5 to 3.0 tesla range meaning it is immensely strong. The powerful magnetic fields of the machine has the ability to pull on any iron-containing objects and may cause them to abruptly move with great for...
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non invasive technique for studing neuronal activity in the brain. Unlike electrophysiological methods that depend on volume currents, MEG depends on the primary current (2, 8).
The MRI works by using hydrogen atoms’ magnetic properties within the human body to produce high quality images. These protons of the hydrogen atoms can be look upon as bar magnets, in normal situations, they will flow inside...
MRI is a procedure, in wide use since the 80s, to see the anatomy of the internal organs of the body. It is based on the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), first described in landmark papers over fifty years ago (Rabi et al. 1938; Rabi, Millman, and Kusch 1939; Purcell et al. 1945; Bloch, Hansen, and Packard 1946) (4 ). . The MRI is a valuable diagnostic and research tool with also practical applications for surgical planning and conquering diseases. This imaging procedure is painless and non-invasive although sometimes discomforting as the patient lies down in a body tube that surrounds them. For many years, closed MRI units have been the standard in helping physicians make a diagnosis. These closed MRI units featured a long tube that the patient would be placed inside during their procedure. This was often uncomfortable for many patients due to the "closed in" feeling and was especially stressful for patients who suffer from claustrophobia. The newest generation of MRI units is now open on all four sides which completely alleviates the "closed in" feeling, while still providing the physician with the most accurate information possible to aid in diagnosis (2).. A patient does not see or feel anything. A faint knocking sound may be heard as the machine processes information. Patients may choose to listen to music -- even having the option of bringing their own CDs to listen to. Most MRI procedures take less than an hour. MRI technology is based on three things: magnetism, radiofrequency and computers. The magnetic resonance machine, is a big and strong magnet. When the body is inside, every proton of the body is oriented in the same way (for instance, with the positive pole up). Water ...
Telesurgery owes its origins to the atomic energy industry's need in the 1950s to handle dangerous and hazardous materials in a safe manner....
Marshall, G. W and S. Keene. “Radiation Safety in the Modern Radiology Department: A Growing Concern.” The Internet Journal of Radiology 5.2 2007: N. pag. 24 Apr. 2011 .
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered as one of the pioneers in medical imaging for diagnosis of pathologies involving soft tissues and internal structures. MRI provides good contrast resolution between different soft tissues of the body especially in brain, muscles, heart etc compared to other medical imaging modalities like computed tomograpgy (CT) and conventional radiography which utilizes x-rays for imaging. The other important aspect of MRI versus other imaging modalities like CT and conventional radiography is that MRI uses no ionizing radiation like x-rays for imaging, instead it uses a strong magnetic field to align the magnetization of some atoms within the body , then uses radiofrequency pulses to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization. This process causes the nuclei of certain atoms to produce a magnetic field which can be detected by the scanner, and all this information is used to reconstruct an MR image of the scanned area of the body. The initial experiments by Sir Otto Stern in the year 1922 stated that physically the magnetic resonance ima...
One of the main reasons that MRI works is because of the patient themselves. Water is 80% of what our bodies are made up of. An MRI machine uses the water molecules in the body to create an image. The MRI uses water molecules to move in different direction which creates some type of electrical current. By moving the water molecules the technologist can distinguish which way they want the image to lay. An MRI machine mainly is used for soft tissue, organs, ligaments, and spinal cords. The MRI machine is a giant magnet. The magnet is made up of different forces and strengths. There is another giant magnet that creates some type of electrical current around the patient lying in ...
The Earth’s magnetic field is a major component to exploring the earth. The north and the south poles have always been a guide for travelers. Using compasses, the direction of the north pole and the south pole has always been provided by the magnetic force of the magnetic field. What many people do not know though is the earth’s magnetic field provides way more than that. The magnetic field, also known as the magnetosphere, protects us from all kinds of harmful substances. Some of these substances include solar wind and harmful radiation from the sun. The magnetosphere also protects the atmosphere, which protects us.