MR Safety and Patient Comfort

MR Safety and Patient Comfort

MRI's benefits are numerous, but potential hazards exist intrinsic to the MR environment. For example, a strong static magnetic field including its associated spatial gradient, pulsed gradient magnetic fields, and pulsed radio frequency (RF) fields.

GE Healthcare is committed to the safe operation of Magnetic Resonance systems. To demonstrate our commitment, GE Healthcare, working with key leaders in MR safety, has designed a website to make safety information widely available.

Highlights

Medical Devices article by Dr. Shellock
Dr. Shellock's article entitled Medical Devices and Accessories Developed for Use in the MR Environment and Interventional MRI Procedures* is available online.


*Not a GE Healthcare article. GE makes no representations about the information contained within.


Screening Form

Patient Screening Form

Limiting Access to the Exclusion Zone - Screening

Every employee and patient must be screened prior to admission to the magnetic field. A patient screening form should be utilized routinely before bringing patients and other personnel into the exclusion zone.

Download a sample:


Consult the Experts

Consult the MR Safety Experts!

GE Healthcare is proud of its collaboration with renowned MR safety experts Dr. Emanuel Kanal and Dr. Frank Shellock. Together, GE Healthcare and Drs. Kanal and Shellock have pushed MR safety to the forefront. All who come into contact with the MR suite must understand the safety issues associated with this dynamic technology. In the past and now the future, GE Medical and Drs. Kanal and Shellock continue to make MR safety a top priority for every MR medical facility.

Dr. Kanal Dr. Shellock
Dr. Kanal Dr. Shellock
Dr. Emanuel Kanal Dr. Frank G. Shellock


For the Patient

MRI

What is MRI?

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a diagnostic imaging technology that uses a strong magnet and radiofrequency waves to produce pictures or "images" of your internal organs and structures. Because MRI allows your doctor to see inside your body from any angle with great clarity, it is giving doctors a wealth of information more quickly and in many cases, more economically than past tests and exploratory surgeries.


Magnets and Metal Don't Mix

When you first enter the MR clinic, you must let your MR physician or technologist know if you have a pacemaker, surgical clips, prosthesis, metal implants or any other metal objects in your body. Some implants (e.g., a pacemaker) may be affected by an MR examination. The clinic personnel will then determine whether or not you should proceed with the MR examination.

Any metal materials that might be affected or attracted by the powerful magnet used for MR imaging should be left at home or given to the MR staff for safekeeping. This list includes your watch, coins, keys, bobby pins, credit cards, pocketknives, etc.

You should also be certain that you are reasonably clean of metal flakes or slivers on your skin, as found in some eye make-up or as a result of working around metal finishing or grinding equipment.