MRI Exam Preparation Requirements

• You will typically receive a gown to wear during your MRI examination.
• Before the exam you will be asked to fill out a screening form asking about anything that might create a health risk or interfere with imaging.
• Items that may create a health hazard or other problem during an MRI exam include:
  
  • Cardiac pacemaker or implantable defibrillator
  • Catheter that has metal components that may pose a risk of a burn injury
  • A ferromagnetic metal clip placed to prevent bleeding from an intracranial aneurysm
  • An implanted medication pump (such as that used to deliver insulin or a pain-relieving drug)
  • A cochlear (inner ear) implant
    

  Items that need to be removed by patients and individuals before entering the MR system room include:

  • Purse, wallet, money clip, credit cards, cards with magnetic strips
  • Electronic devices such as beepers or cell phones
  • Hearing aids
  • Metal jewelry, watches
  • Pens, paper clips, keys, coins
  • Hair barrettes, hairpins
  • Any article of clothing that has a metal zipper, buttons, snaps, hooks, underwires, or metal threads
  • Shoes, belt buckles, safety pins

Objects that may interfere with image quality if close to the area being scanned include:

• Metallic spinal rod
• Plates, pins, screws, or metal mesh used to repair a bone or joint
• Joint replacement or prosthesis
• Metal jewelry including that used for body piercing
• Some tattoos or tattooed eyeliner (these alter MR images, and there is a chance of skin irritation or swelling; black and blue pigments are the most troublesome)
• Bullet, shrapnel, or other type of metal fragment
• Metallic foreign body within or near the eye (such an object generally can be seen on an x-ray; metal workers are most likely to have this problem)
• Dental fillings (while usually unaffected by the magnetic field, they may distort images of the facial area or brain; the same is true for orthodontic braces and retainers)
  
• Small children are managed with oral sedation.
  
  
• NB: Patients Must Bring Old X-Rays and scans for all procedures!