Y’know, sometimes people saying you can’t do certain things isn’t them just being an asshole. Physics and biology really doesn’t care what people think…
It’s notable that he was not the patient, he was the patient’s husband who somehow was allowed to enter the room with the MRI machine.
The superconducting magnet in an MRI scanner is always on even when not performing a scan.
This was pure and simple negligence by the MRI operators. Access control is the most basic part of MRI safety!
Even if he was not wearing this “chain”, he never should have been allowed to enter the room. He could’ve been wearing a steel wristwatch, had a keyring in his pocket, etc.
It’s wild that the bottleneck keeping us from buying more MRI machines, achieving economies of scale for a no-radiation way of viewing soft tissues in high resolution, is supposedly the specialized technicians, and here we had a technician who couldn’t manage to turn it off in time when something went wrong, and apparently didn’t keep metal objects out of the room. (We use metal detectors any time you walk into a sporting event, why not an MRI room?)
I expect this story to be promoted by people who benefit from sales of x-ray / CT machines though. MRIs and all of their promise for public health could continue to be set back.
Entering the room without permission and wearing a 20lb weight training chain ... I look forward to my next visit where they ask me if I've got some weight training equipment on me.
> In 2001, a six-year-old boy died of a fractured skull at a New York City medical centre while undergoing an MRI exam after its powerful magnetic force propelled an oxygen tank across the room.
There shouldn't exist any metals in the room (that are not the machine itself), period. The smallest metallic object can fly off like a bullet. Everything and everyone that enters the room should be required to be scanned with a handheld metal detector.
I entered an MRI room once when my wife was getting ready to be scanned. I had a metal Cross pen in my shirt pocket. Although I was 10 feet back, the pen flew out of my pocket, across the room, and stuck to the magnet. It was scary.
It comes to something when Fox News is more informative with background information about signage and safety protocols, and reporting about a technician's warning not to enter, than BBC News is.
Interesting that he didn't feel gradual increase of pull force while he was approaching the MRI machine.
I guess cubic growth (?) changes from mild to dangerous so quickly when walking towards a MRI machine that once you realize what happening it's already too late.
Most people don't understand the danger of MRI, myself included. I trust the people and follow their directions but I can't really visualize what it would be like to get caught with metal in a MRI magnetic field.
For quoting the article : « According to the US Food and Drug Administration, MRI machines have magnetic fields that will attract magnetic objects of all sizes - keys, mobile phones and even oxygen tanks - which "may cause damage to the scanner or injury to the patient or medical professionals if those objects become projectiles". » the choice of words from both the bbc and the FDA don't really convey the risks.
Anyway there are very surprising issues in what is described : why did the wife needed her husband's help to get help although it is the role of the technicians ? Why was the husband in a place where he was able to hear his wife and not being prepped for MRI ? Why was it possible for him to enter ? And why wasn't the technician able to stop him entering ?
Calling a 9 kg chain a "necklace" is a bit misleading. It makes it seem like it could have gone in unnoticed. "medical episode" is also very vague, what was the actual cause of death?
The real story here is that breakaway connectors exist and yet are still not used.
While the MRI angle makes it "newsworthy," there are many ways in which a chain might be caught and cause injury if it does not disconnect at a lower energy level than the minimum amount of injury the wearer is willing to accept.
As an anesthesiologist I routinely gave anesthesia to patients (usually children) undergoing MRIs over a 38-year career.
I never had anxiety in my daily practice in the OR but anesthesia in the MRI suite ALWAYS provoked anxiety because:
1. I had to anesthetize the patient in the sub-basement, two floors below the main OR — where there were always other anesthesiologists able to help in an emergency. In the MRI suite, no one could hear my silent screams if I got in trouble nor were there knowledgeable extra hands to, for example, squeeze the breathing bag if I needed to prepare for an emergency intubation.
2. Once the patient was anesthetized and the heavy door to the MRI machine room was closed and locked, I could only monitor my unconscious patient through a darkened heavy glass window. Sure, I had monitors for EKG and oxygen saturation outside the MRI room, near the control board where technicians operated the machine, but the automatic blood pressure cuff inflator dial on the anesthesia machine was inside the room and hard to see through the dark glass.
3. It was my good fortune to never have had an emergency in the MRI suite, but events such as that reported above in the OP happened from time to time in hospitals throughout the U.S. and were occasionally reported in the anesthesia literature with the expected cautionary advice. Many more events occurred than were reported.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 62.3 ms ] threadUm, ok.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ssyJfjVn1fUGaG2A
The superconducting magnet in an MRI scanner is always on even when not performing a scan.
This was pure and simple negligence by the MRI operators. Access control is the most basic part of MRI safety!
Even if he was not wearing this “chain”, he never should have been allowed to enter the room. He could’ve been wearing a steel wristwatch, had a keyring in his pocket, etc.
Also, twenty pound necklace?
"She said he was wearing a 20lb (9kg) chain with a lock that he used for weight training."
I expect this story to be promoted by people who benefit from sales of x-ray / CT machines though. MRIs and all of their promise for public health could continue to be set back.
> In 2001, a six-year-old boy died of a fractured skull at a New York City medical centre while undergoing an MRI exam after its powerful magnetic force propelled an oxygen tank across the room.
There shouldn't exist any metals in the room (that are not the machine itself), period. The smallest metallic object can fly off like a bullet. Everything and everyone that enters the room should be required to be scanned with a handheld metal detector.
How is that possible ? I would think at the very least the door would be locked.
From quick searches I believe it is a for profit company.
https://opennpi.com/provider/1851878409
Granted that probably does not matter, but to me, for profit generally means cut costs, even safety costs to maximize profits.
* https://fox5ny.com/news/long-island-mri-freak-accident
(Many U.S.A. news services do a better job than BBC News does on U.S.A. stories. But this is the BBC being beaten by Fox, specificially.)
I guess cubic growth (?) changes from mild to dangerous so quickly when walking towards a MRI machine that once you realize what happening it's already too late.
Tell a person there's a tarantula or a cobra in the next room and not a second will go by without them being deeply aware of this information.
Tell them it's a 3 tesla magnetic field and they'll run in carrying a piece of sheet metal and a pocket full of ball bearings.
People think they can do anything they want nowadays.
For quoting the article : « According to the US Food and Drug Administration, MRI machines have magnetic fields that will attract magnetic objects of all sizes - keys, mobile phones and even oxygen tanks - which "may cause damage to the scanner or injury to the patient or medical professionals if those objects become projectiles". » the choice of words from both the bbc and the FDA don't really convey the risks.
Anyway there are very surprising issues in what is described : why did the wife needed her husband's help to get help although it is the role of the technicians ? Why was the husband in a place where he was able to hear his wife and not being prepped for MRI ? Why was it possible for him to enter ? And why wasn't the technician able to stop him entering ?
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/d...
While the MRI angle makes it "newsworthy," there are many ways in which a chain might be caught and cause injury if it does not disconnect at a lower energy level than the minimum amount of injury the wearer is willing to accept.
I never had anxiety in my daily practice in the OR but anesthesia in the MRI suite ALWAYS provoked anxiety because:
1. I had to anesthetize the patient in the sub-basement, two floors below the main OR — where there were always other anesthesiologists able to help in an emergency. In the MRI suite, no one could hear my silent screams if I got in trouble nor were there knowledgeable extra hands to, for example, squeeze the breathing bag if I needed to prepare for an emergency intubation.
2. Once the patient was anesthetized and the heavy door to the MRI machine room was closed and locked, I could only monitor my unconscious patient through a darkened heavy glass window. Sure, I had monitors for EKG and oxygen saturation outside the MRI room, near the control board where technicians operated the machine, but the automatic blood pressure cuff inflator dial on the anesthesia machine was inside the room and hard to see through the dark glass.
3. It was my good fortune to never have had an emergency in the MRI suite, but events such as that reported above in the OP happened from time to time in hospitals throughout the U.S. and were occasionally reported in the anesthesia literature with the expected cautionary advice. Many more events occurred than were reported.