This year’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging Safety Week kicked off on July 22, beginning a week of safety-conscious recognition.
MR Safety Week marks the anniversary of the MRI related death of a young patient in 2001, when a steel oxygen cylinder was brought into the MRI room.
While MR safety is important all year round, this week in particular focuses on both patient and staff safety.
Guidance and advice
The Society has produced information leaflets for MRI safety for patients, as well as guidance and advice documents for radiographic staff and referrers.
For the latest updates for and editions of these leaflets and flyers, click here.
The Safety in Magnetic Resonance Imaging document provides an overview of the responsibilities, training and education, and practical safety guidance for departments.
Potential hazards
The primary hazard in MRI is the very strong magnetic field – for most MR scanners, this magnetic field is always on. This means there is a risk of metal objects becoming strongly attracted to the scanner, forming dangerous projectiles, and with implants such as heart pacemakers and aneurysm clips being adversely affected.
Such incidents have led to serious injuries and fatalities.
Other potential risks include biological effects, such as vertigo-like sensations or peripheral nerve and muscle stimulation, high levels of acoustic noise, contact burns induced by radiofrequency radiation, and potential cryogen hazards.
Support for radiographers
E-learning for Healthcare has two sessions covering MR safety within the SoR’s Clinical Imaging programme. The sessions can be found in the module: Introduction to Imaging Technologies.
MR safety is covered in more detail in the MRI Safety programme, which is structured around the needs of specific MR safety roles and explores the hazards associated with the use of MR equipment, as well as offering guidance on best practice so as to protect patients and staff.
Collaborative efforts
The SoR also collaborates with the British Institute of Radiology, the British Association of MRI Radiographers, and other organisations in promoting MRI safety.
More information can be found on the BIR’s Magnetic Resonance Special Interest Group page here.
The BAMR is focusing this year on “Shared Learning from Incidents”. More information can be found on their website here.