For your safety and the safety of the patient, an MR safety-trained health care worker at your facility should carefully screen for hazards before patients and personnel enter the Exclusion Zone. All personnel must be aware of and comply with your facility’s screening procedure.
Warning
Patient screening is required for patients who are going to be imaged on an MR scanner.
Step-by-step instructions
Use a Patient Screening form routinely before bringing patients or other personnel into the Exclusion Zone.
Thoroughly review all safety information and considerations before starting a scan with patients that have an MR Conditional implant. In general, patients with conductive (e.g. metallic) implants are contraindicated for MR scans. For patients with implants that are labeled as MR Safe or MR Conditional consult the implant device manufacturer's documentation.
Every patient, individual, and employee must be carefully screened prior to admission to the magnetic field. Refer to the Screening form topic.
Review the completed screening form and evaluate the individual prior to entry.
Identify circumstances that contraindicate admission to the Exclusion Zone or items that need to be removed before entering the Security Zone.
In addition to safety issues, metal objects or materials containing metal may distort the magnetic field and detract from the image quality.
Discuss the items on the screening form with the patient or other individual.
Verbally interview the patient to verify the information on the form and ensure the patient understands each question he/she is answering.
Allow discussion of any question or concern that the patient may have.
Examine all patients with diapers or incontinence products, including adults, should have dry diapers on prior to the start of the scan.
Examine or X-Ray patients who are at risk for metal eye slivers.
Serious injury may occur as a result of movement or heating of the metallic foreign body as it is attracted by the magnetic field of the MR system.
Follow your departmental clinical screening policy.
Require that patients change clothes.
Provide clothes without metallic fasteners and pockets.
Patients should not wear shoes into the magnet room as they may have collected metal on the soles.
Instruct the patient to wash off non-permanent make-up.
Follow the precautions for patients with permanent make-up such as permanent eyeliner, which can cause tissue heating.
Keep metal out of the bore.*
A metal-free bore prevents burns and image artifacts.
*In general, patients with conductive (e.g. metallic) implants are contraindicated for MR scans. Some implantable devices have been labeled as MR Conditional under certain operating conditions. Only use quadrature transmit for MR Conditional devices. MR Safe implants will have the MR Safe symbol in their implant documentation.
When evaluating whether to proceed with MR scanning on patients with such implants, consult the implantable device’s labeling.
