Facts to Know About MRI Safety
MRI Safety Week is July 21-27, and helps us all recognize the safety precautions that come with using this imaging technology. The most important thing to remember about Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is that the magnet is always on! Even when the lights are turned off and there are no patients in the room, the MRI scanner is always on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Magnetic field strengths used in an MRI can be 15,000 Gauss (G) or 1.5Tesla (T) to 30,000 Gauss (G) or 3Tesla (T) for MRI Scanners in a clinical setting. When you think of how these compare to the Earth's gravity, the unit used to measure magnetic strength, "Tesla," is equal to 10,000 Gauss, so a 3T MRI is approximately 30,000 times stronger than the average gravity on the Earth's gravitational pull. Diagnostic Imaging Associates offers 1.5T and 3T field strength MRI units.
Technologists rely on many safety practices to prevent accidents and injuries in the MRI room. Healthcare facilities, like Diagnostic Imaging Associates, use barriers, ferrous metal detectors, and signs to advise physicians, technologists, nurses, and ancillary personnel that it is not safe to enter the MRI room. Properly trained MRI technologists should always be on-site to oversee the safety of this area. These measures are only a few used to protect those allowed to enter the MRI room.
MRI safety awareness is an important part of the MRI technologist's daily routine. MRI has been in clinical settings for just over five decades, and during that time, the medical community has gained valuable information. It’s essential for clinicians, technologist, and outside personnel to understand and be fully educated on how truly strong the magnets in MRI scanners are when ferrous materials are introduced to the magnetic field.
Understanding the importance of screening all persons and all materials before entering an MRI room is the first line of safety. This safety requires educating all new technologists, ancillary personnel, and anyone with the reason for entering an MRI room. Thorough explanations to our patients are required for their understanding of why we work so hard to strive to have the safest MRI facility. The magnet is always on; therefore, MRI safety should always be followed. Never enter an MRI room without the proper screening and supervision from an MRI technologist. Safety first and remember that the magnet is always on. Here at Diagnostic Imaging Associates, we go above and beyond for your safety.
Written by Kedron Huggins
MRI Technologist, Diagnostic Imaging Associates