The “Magnet” in Magnetic Resonance Imaging

As people accustomed to the MRI machine, otherwise known as the “hell-tube,” I found this blurb in the Wall Street Journal Health blog worth sharing.

From  California comes the story of a patient on a metal gurney, who was not even in the MRI machine, but was indeed sucked into it after it was turned on.  The force of the action actually fractured her leg.

The FDA keeps a database of such incidents, and apparently, they are not  rare.

Among the other incidents is the case of a pair of scissors that flew out of an attendant’s pockets and into the head of the MRI technician.

Now, we’ve all had our moments with MRI technicians who “scold” us if we move too much, (or in my case, breathe too much…no, I’m serious, he actually said, “try not to breathe too much,”);  so we might be tempted to sympathize with the pair of scissors; but in this case, the poor technician had to have surgery to remove the projectile. Yikes.

More stories at:  http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/01/28/yes-metal-things-do-fly-into-mris-and-hurt-people/

Cheers,

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