Importance of the MRI Machine An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine is used by doctors to verify or diagnose problems in people’s soft tissue or bones. This technique uses magnetic fields and radio waves to map out soft tissues and bone in the body. This technique is extremely important in diagnosing knee, brain, and shoulder injuries. The Machine An MRI machine is usually quite large, though newer styles are smaller and more efficient. MRI machines are large, tubular magnets. They do not have any writing on them. They are extremely plain. They are usually in a small, cold, plain room to minimize any interference with tests. A patient lays down on the bottom opening of the platform of the MRI and is slid into the machine by an operator. Once the person is in the machine it is turned on. The machine creates a magnetic field through the body that lines up all the hydrogen atoms within the subject’s body. Once the magnetic field is created, the machine sends radio waves through the body to excite the hydrogen which then give very small signals. These small signals are used to make the cross-section MRI pictures that the doctors will analyze. The Machine can do 3-D imaging, so soft tissue sites of particular interest within the body can be looked at in great detail from several angles. MRI Pictures The MRI is used predominately to test the brain and spinal cord. It is able to help doctors diagnose aneurysms, disorders in the eye and internal ear, Multiple sclerosis, Spinal cord injuries, strokes, and tumors –benign and cancerous. Doctor can use a functional MRI (fMRI) to get a more detailed picture in the instance that the MRI doesn’t give enough detail; this happens in the case of brain injuries. The MRI is able to generate a picture of the heart and blood vessels to check for abnormalities like: size/function of the heart’s chambers, thickness and movement of heart walls, how much damage heart attacks and disease caused/cause, any structural issues with major vessels and arteries – aneurysms or cut, and any inflammation or blockages in the vessels of the patient. The MRI can show inconsistencies of the body’s organs: liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, uterus, ovaries, prostate, and testicles. These inconsistencies are then checked for cancerous or benign tumors. It can be used to back up results from a mammography which picks out breast cancer for women who have very dense tissue in their breasts. The MRI is also crucial for orthopedic doctors (bone/sports doctors). The MRI helps them distinguish joint problems like arthritis, joint injuries from trauma or overuse like meniscus or ACL tears in the knee, disk abnormalities in the spine like slipped disks, bone infections, and tumors of bones or soft issues like cartilage. The development of the MRI machine made it easier for doctors to know when something is wrong with tissue instead of having to perform surgery as the only means of knowing. The development of this machine minimized uncertainty that doctors had about injuries or when and how to perform surgery. Associated Risks The MRI is not different from any other medical device in the fact that there are risks involved with its use. People that have metal in their body are going to get improper readings – the metal messes up the magnetic fields due to diffraction of charge. For this reason, subjects are asked to take out metal jewelry, and other precautions may be taken. Some special cases that must be mentioned prior to an MRI are joint prosthetics, artificial heart valves, pacemakers, metal implants or fragments, cochlear implants, heart defibrillator. It is also important the technician completing the MRI knows about the patient’s liver or kidney issues because these issues need to be taken special interest in photographs. Preparation for an MRI The subject getting an MRI will be asked to keep to his or her daily routine. Before the MRI, the subject will put on a gown. He or she will be asked to remove all metal: jewelry, hair accessories, glasses, dentures, hearing aids and underwire bras. The subject will be able to return to normal life after the MRI. The Test The subject lies on a movable board connected to the machine. The subject enters the MRI’s open tube to begin the test which is controlled by a technician. A technician will be able to talk to the subject via earphones that the subject wears. The subject is able to talk back unless sedated – this is rare. The MRI creates a magnetic field around the subject and sends radio waves through the subject – the subject will not feel any of this since it is microscopic. The machine makes continuous tapping and other obnoxious noises, so the subject will have earphones on. Sedatives can be given to subjects that struggle with claustrophobia. The patients getting blood vessels analyzed will get an intravenous injection so that his or her vessels are more easily seen in the processed images. The test takes around an hour. Any movements can cause blurred images and increase the test time. Results The results of an MRI will be interpreted by a specialist – a radiologist- who is a doctor trained in reading the information from specialized tests. The information that the radiologist finds are then sent to the subject’s doctor. The doctor will discuss the conclusions of the test and let the subject know what to do with the information.