Plain Film Acquisition Techniques for Identification of Cochlear Implant Magnet Displacement

We describe a simple, reproducible patient-positioning protocol to facilitate acquisition of plain film radiographs that reliably depict CI magnet orientation, thereby minimizing the need for repeat imaging or CT to determine the presence of magnet displacement. This approach leverages widely available imaging equipment and can be easily adopted in multiple patient care settings without specialized hardware or software. The image below depicts plain skull radiographs obtained using the standardized patient positioning protocol demonstrating bilateral cochlear implant magnet position before (A, B) and after (C, D) manual reduction.