3T High field MR system
Frequent asked questions (FAQ)
Explanations hereafter are adapted to the high
field MRI we use in our institute. Some of these
comments cannot be applied to other MRI systems. If you are to
be
examined elsewhere, please ask for specific information.
- What should I do if I think I might be be
pregnant?
- Is it necessary to be fasting for an MRI? How
should I prepare?
- Should I expect MRI time to be delayed?
- My body harbours some metal elements
- Can you accept obese patients?
- I am allergic
- I suffer from a cold
- I am very claustrophobic and I think that I
wouldn't even enter your MRI
- I cannot tolerate binds
- Will you let me alone inside?
- Why do you maintain the MRI door closed?
- I cannot stand loud noise
- Why are MRI sequences so noisy?
- Shall I feel something during my MRI
examination?
- Could MRI induce changes in my body?
- Why is MRI imaging lasting so long?
- Why cannot I move during MRI sequences?
- May I read or do something else during MRI?
- Is your MRI able to perform every usual
imaging?
- Is image quality higher than other
systems?
- Is MRI able to diagnose any disease?
- Why are MRI images not colored?
- Why is MRI imaging fairly costly?
- I am not sure that my insurance will
reimburse my MRI examination
- Do you perform MRIs without medical
prescription?
- Will you tell me my result at the end of
examination?
- Shall I get my MRI CD-ROM?
- I brought older X-rays along...
- I have lost my MRI films...
- I have a pacemaker: is it still possible to
undergo MRI ?
- I have a cardiac valve: is it safe ?
- I have tattoos / piercings
- Do I really need an injection ?
What should I do if I think I might be be pregnant ?
Although MRI has been proven to be innocuous and does not
generate
any dangerous radiation, MRI imaging
is not adviced during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
This rule
may be simply ignored if a
life-threatening disease has to be investigated.
Is it necessary to be fasting for an MRI? How should I
prepare?
You do not have to be fasting for MRI, except for abdominal
imaging. You may in any case take your daily drugs with a little
water.
Please do not make up, especially for head and neck examinations
and
remember that all jewels included piercings need to be removed
before
MRI imaging.
Should I expect MRI time to be delayed?
MRI imaging is a complex technique and schedules may sometimes
be disturbed by unforeseen events. It may happen that you are
asked to
wait a little for your turn. That is why we advise you to
schedule at
least two full hours for your MRI to complete.
My body harbours some metal elements
If you are harbouring a pacemaker or another electronic
implant (insulin pump, for example), any metal element in your
head or
close to your eyes, please contact us quickly to decide if your
MRI
should be cancelled. For any other metal object location, there
is no
danger; please just mention it to the technician in charge of
your
examination. Plastic implants should not interact at all with
MRI.
Can you accept obese patients?
Our MRI, open on all sides, is specially fitted for obese
patients, when they cannot always enter a closed MRI "tunnel".
Upper
weight limit is 135 Kilograms.
I am allergic
It is important to mention any allergy or drug intolerance, in
case we have to administrate contrast agent. Gadolinium used in
MRI is
very rarely allergenic, even less than already safe modern
iodinated
contrast agents used for example in CT-scan imaging.
I suffer from a cold
As coughing may induce movement artefacts and alter image
quality, we advise you to call us and delay your date.
I am very claustrophobic and I think that I won't be able
to undergo an MRI
Most
sensitive patients can still manage to undergo MRI with some
help.
Thanks to high field and tenchnology, it is possible to program
very
short sequences. Our patients are always handled with
patience and understanding, nobody being forced into the magnet.
In
most difficult cases, we propose short-termed sedation with very
good
efficacy against anxiety. That is why we recommend anxious
patients to
ask someone to drive their car back, because in case they would
receive sedation, no driving is allowed for a few hours.
I cannot tolerate binds
Patients are never attached during MRI. We only secure the
part to be examined with cushions against unintentional
movements. You
would be able anytime to get out of MRI by yourself if you felt
it
necessary.
Will you let me alone inside?
If you come with someone else, he (she) may stay along with
you during your examination. The technician will anyway watch at
you
all the time and is able to hear you and speak to you with a
microphone. For further security, an alarm is placed in your
hand to be
pressed if necessary.
Why do you maintain the MRI door closed?
MRI uses receiver antennas which are very sensitive to the
weak radio waves emitted back from your body during a sequence.
Radio
waves coming from outside must be filtered out by a continuous
shielding, which would be interrupted by opening the door during
the
sequences, leading to image quality deterioration. Anyway, the
door can
always be openend from inside if necessary.
I cannot stand loud noise
MRI sequences are less noisy in this high field MRI. If noise
is still a problem,
just ask for extra ear protection.
Why are MRI sequences so noisy?
Noise is generated by very fast inversion of electric current
in radio waves emitters used to obtain images. There are no
moving
parts inside an MRI device.
Shall I feel something during my MRI examination?
Most people do not feel any difference between being inside or
outside MRI. Very rarely, highly sensitive persons mention
slight
sensations in their body, rarely unpleasant and never painful.
In very
high
fields, some feelings may be a little more frequent, like
dizziness,
metallic taste in the mouth, heating. With very high
gradient frequency, sensations may be related to low currents
generated
in nervous fibers. But these phenomena are safe anyway, thanks
to
severe security thresholds limits.
Could MRI induce changes in my body?
High magnetic field and electromagnetic waves (radio waves)
induce multiple short-timed magnetic orientation changes of a
small
minority of your body atoms. Under normal examination
conditions, no
adverse effects have ever been proved, even in foetuses. We have
now
more than 20 years experience and tens of millions of MRIs are
performed every year in the world, showing that this technique
is safe.
In addition, every MRI machine is severely controlled in a
regular
manner to ensure safety and stable image quality.
Why is MRI imaging time consuming?
An MRI is composed of sequences (usually 5-7) , each about 2-3
minutes of duration necessary to ensure image quality. Every
sequence
corresponds to one orientation in space (transverse, sagittal or
coronal), each one with two possible tissue contrasts parameters
(T1 or
T2 weighting). Sometimes sequences must be repeated after
contrast
agent injection. Mean acquisition time is about 20 minutes, plus
time
for patient explanations and installation, eventual contrast
injection,
deinstallation and pauses between sequences. Furthermore, if the
patient has moved during a sequence, this sequence needs to be
repeated, prolonging examination time.
Why cannot I move during MRI sequences?
Most sequences need a few minutes to complete; during this
time, MRI builds a very precise body map to obtain an image. Any
patient movement during this period will produce blurred image
with
information loss. Image formation can be compared to a
photography by
night, for which a long exposition time is necessary to gain
enough
light to impress the film (where light is compared to the MRI
signal).
The shorter the sequence, the less signal is obtained and the
less
precise the image will be.
May I read or do something else during MRI?
It is theoretically possible. But practically, even head
movements or page turning could provoque whole body movement and
image
spoiling. That's why we prefer that the patient takes advantage
of this
time to rest and relax; it is sometimes even possible to sleep.
Is your MRI able to perform every usual imaging?
More than this: any special technique is available, like MR
angiography, breast MRI and multiparametric examinations.
Is image quality higher than other systems ?
Image
quality at our 3T system is the highest available in the market.
Many
MRIs are still working at lower fields, like 1.5 or even lower.
Our
high field MRI allows very precise images and shorter
examination time.
Is MRI able to diagnose any disease?
MRI is a very potent diagnostic tool for a wide medical
application domain. However, there are diseases that do not
appear on
imaging, either because changes are too weak to be recorded, or
because
they simply do not induce enough body tissue changes. Lesion
detection
is also limited by size, as submillimetric abnormalities may be
difficult or impossible to see.
Why are
MRI images
not colored?
The image computed from the different signal intensities
measured in each point of the body (pixels) is coded in gray
levels by
the apparatus, whether it is for MRI, CT scan or ultrasound. As
intensity is the sole variable, the computer cannot decide by
himself
which color he will attribute to different tissues: two tissues
having
the same intensity may be totally different, like liver and
spleen for
example; conversely, two structures showing different signals
can
belong to the same tissue, like a cyst in the liver. The job of
the
radiologist is to distinguish a tissue from another along with
their
anatomic location in the body, which a computer hardly could
realise.
For aesthetical purposes, a non medical journal may decide to
add color
to a radiological image placed on its front page; however, color
neither does enhance details nor refine the diagnosis for the
specialist. If, on the other hand, another variable is obtained,
like
isotope radioactivity in nuclear medicine (scintiscanning,
PET-CT), or
blood flow in the vessels, as for color Doppler, it is very
beneficial
to superimpose a color coding of this dynamic variable on the
b/w
images. This procedure can also be carried out in functional
MRI, in
which blood flow or regional activity of the brain can thus be
better
illustrated.
Why is MRI imaging fairly costly?
MRI costs are determined by the high price of the machine, of
its installation (magnetic shields) and yearly maintenance. Life
expectancy of an MRI installation varies from 5 to 10 years.
Moreover, technician full time presence is required for each
examination, which duration is about half an hour. Lastly, image
interpretation need special medical training because of MRI
complexity.
MRI costs are largely compensated by its high diagnostic
performance
allowing to obviate many other painful or complex
investigations.
I am not sure that my insurance will reimburse my MRI
examination
If your MRI is medically justified, you should not worry: your
insurance has to endorse diagnostic costs prescribed by your
doctor.
However, your insurance may ask your doctor to explain his
diagnostic
strategy. In very peculiar cases, it may be useful to ask your
insurance before scheduling MRI.
Do you perform MRIs without medical prescription?
Insurance reimbursement will occur only for a medically
prescribed MRI. If you choose to pay your MRI by yourself, you
will
have to indicate us to which referring physician we should send
the
medical report, so that you can get medical advice based on MRI
results.
Will you tell me my result at the end of examination?
Patient is the first owner of his medical data and it is his
right to have access to it. Anxious patient reassurement is
often
possible just after MRI achievement if the result is obvious.
However,
radiologists prefer to let the referring doctor inform his
patient
himself, because he knows him better and will be able to comment
the
results and propose a treatment. Radiologists often refrain from
talking about treatment with their patients because they only
have a
partial view of one's problems and are not aware of all possible
treatments in every medical speciality.
Shall I get my MRI CD-ROM ?
If you have a medical visit the same day, you may go along
with your images for your consultation. Otherwise, we can send
the
images with the report directly to your doctor. Written results
will be
sent to your physician, usually in the next 24 hours.
I brought older X-rays along...
This was the right decision, because we need older exams
(X-rays, ultrasound or CT-scan) relating to the same medical
problem
for comparison. After reporting on your MRI, we will send the
whole
file to your referring doctor, who will eventually return it to
you
on your next consultation. We don't archive any patient
documents in
our
institute.
I have lost my former MRI
Your medical data are unique, they belong to you and it is up
to you to carefully preserve your images against light and
humidity for
10 years or more if required. For comparison sakes, most images
can now
be saved in a PACS (Picture Archive and Commmunication System)
at the
radiology institute.
I have a pacemaker: is it still possible to undergo MRI ?
MRI is fondamentally incompatible with any electronic
implanted device, which could be damaged or could not function
correctly and cause severe harm to the patient. However, some
recent
devices may be switched off or into a "MRI-compatible" mode.
This can
only be accomplished when one knows exactly which model is
implanted,
when the MRI is officially allowed for this use and when a
specially
trained doctor is present during examination. These conditions
are
already met in a few centers. You are encouraged to call for
information.
I have a cardiac valve: is it safe?
Most cardiac valves are MRI compatible but older models could
be a problem. You should ask your cardiac surgeon before making
an
appointment.
I have tattoos / piercings
Metals contained in some tattoo inks may induce heating under high
field MRI. Please mention any tattoo at your arrival. All
piercings
should be removed before coming, if possible.

Do I really need an injection ?
Injecting contrast medium - usually a Gadolinium complex -
into a vein is used to enhance lesion detection. Such
information can
be necessary in many situations
(inflammation, tumor, blood flow disturbance, etc.). Side
effects like
nausea, allergy ot intolerance are extremely rare. The
radiologist
decides in which case injection will be beneficial for the
diagnosis.
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