MRI safety review

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics
• Radiological Safety

Background:

• Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging offers advanced diagnostics without ionizing radiation.
• The MR environment presents unique safety hazards for personnel.
• Existing safety data primarily covers magnetic field strengths up to 1.5 Tesla (T).

Purpose of the Study:

• To review known and lesser-known adverse interactions within the MR environment.
• To emphasize the need for updated safety protocols for higher field strengths.
• To highlight gaps in current safety literature for MR systems above 1.5T.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of MR safety investigations.
• Analysis of potential adverse interactions at various magnetic field strengths.
• Discussion of extrapolating safety data to higher field strengths (2.0T and above).

Main Results:

• Identified well-documented and emerging safety concerns in MR environments.
• Highlighted limitations of existing safety data for field strengths exceeding 1.5T.
• Emphasized the inadequacy of simply extrapolating lower-field safety data to higher fields.

Conclusions:

• Awareness of MR environmental risks is crucial for staff safety.
• Higher magnetic field strengths (2.0T+) necessitate further safety investigations.
• Current safety literature is insufficient for higher field strength MR systems, requiring new research.