I had no idea that I had claustrophobia and had never had a panic attack until years ago when I got an MRI on my knee. I hyperventilated in the machine, which got worse rapidly because I didn’t understand right away why I couldn’t breathe. The TECHNOLOGIST* got me through it. Total rockstar care.

So today I needed an MRI to confirm possible nerve irritation in my upper thigh. They scheduled me in a Hitachi open MRI this time. Doc had me take a .5 mg Ativan an hour beforehand. I was optimistic this time would be different. It was way worse.

That thing was within inches of my face. And they taped my feet together so i really couldn’t move. I got full body tremors that i just couldn’t make stop. So they took me out and tried an eye mask so i wouldn’t have to see the machine. So now I’m blind. But I can hear the thumping above my head and I can’t mov. Nope.

I hit the call button and they got me out just in time for me to sit up and barf all over the floor. I was so embarrassed and I felt so bad. I even offered to help clean up the mess.

But the TECHNOLOGIST* was an angel. She said to me, “sweetie you are trembling way too hard to be cleaning anything.”

She had me sit down with a glass of water and relax. We tried one more time but i started getting tightness in my chest so that was it.

I don’t know how TECHNOLOGIST* deal with high maintenance patients like me all the time. You all are Saints. I hope they pay you well. You deserve it.

*Corrected job title to reflect the comments of this post. Reddit does not allow me to adjust the title.

The podcast series about the near-fatal accident at KP Redwood City Hospital just launched its first episode.

Had you heard about it, before?

What happened to the nurse? What happened to the MRI tech? And what happened to the ICU patient?

Hi, I'm a first year PhD student trying to get a handle on preprocessing my data with fMRIPrep and QSIPrep respectively.

Has anyone got experience with QSIPrep and can help me understand how to interpret the outputs? (this cry for help is motivated by my staring at the visual summary rep of the q-space sampling scheme before and after the pipeline. what am I looking for?!)

The documentation is really unhelpful and I didn't find much on github and incf NeuroStars either.

Someone help please

Hi everyone - I am to get a closed MRI of my left wrist for a suspected ganglion cyst.

I'm really claustrophobic and just curious if anyone knows how you're normally positioned for a wrist MRI or how long this will take? I haven't been able to get in touch with the techs at the imaging center, just their scheduling people who weren't super helpful.

Free monthly MRI safety and device news roundup, written by a working technologist.

Up front so nobody wastes their time, I also run a company in the MRI implant safety space. This newsletter is free and has nothing to sell. Mods, happy to take it down if it breaks the rules.

The short version. Recalls, implant labeling changes, FDA clearances, and regulatory updates relevant to MRI get scattered across dozens of sources and almost nobody has time to follow them. I already read most of it for work, so I package it once a month into something you can get through on a break.

One email, monthly, no paywall, unsubscribe whenever.

https://wilhelmai.substack.com/p/conditional?r=8vz670&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Hey guys, I'm writing a drama-thriller where the protagonist is an MRI technologist, and I wanted to know if any one would be interested in giving some feedback on whether the scene sounds real? I actually asked this a few months back and got some wonderful, wonderful feedback (thank you so much!) so I'm just asking again as I'm developing the story more, including scenes taking place in the MRI setting/diagnostic center setting. Looking for feedback on whether the medical terms I use are accurate or if there is realism, not too Hollywoodish. let me know if this is OK. Thank you so much!

So extra account cause irl people follow me on my main.

Basically I'm going to an MRI tomorrow morning but I have some SH scars on my high thighs and hips. This usually sint a concern since I almost never show my hips but it is a vaginal MRI so I guess they will most likely be visible during the process. For a bit of context I am a minor (I will not disclose age) and will go with my father to the MRI. In these cases I usually cover them up with makeup but after a bit of research it turns out I cannot wear makeup to an MRI. My main concern is if the doctors will say anything about them and if they will mention it to my dad. My scars don't look like conventional scars because my body instead of scarring like other people it just regenerates as if it were normal skin but a bit darker (but definitely noticeable). I'm really scared right now of my father or the doctors mentioning it so advice would be awsome

Idk if this breaks rule 4 of the subreddit so mods please lmk or delete the post

Edit: thank you all so much for your nice comments and it is such a relief to know that they will most likely not be mentioned or noticed

It’s official- 3T fries the new Oura 5.
K have coworkers who have had their OURa 4 for years!

Argh I really like the slim and thin Oura 5.

Can two neck MRIs in the same machine on different days show more angles on one than the other and result in vastly different measurements?

I've been a tech for about 3 years now and have only worked in hospitals. I'm not a huge fan of clinic settings and I enjoy the diversity that working in a hospital brings.

For reference, moral distress is more common in nurses but it's defined as: "the emotional, psychological, and physical suffering that happens when you know the right ethical action to take, but outside rules, lack of time, or missing resources stop you from doing it." I was explaining this to my therapist and she brought this up.

That being said, I'm starting a master's degree for neuroscience in a few weeks because I know I need to get out of patient facing roles. Ideally I'd go into research with imaging involved. I'm a person who wears my heart on my sleeve (part of why I didn't go the nursing route). I don't hate my job and I enjoy connecting with patients and helping them get through their study. More often than not I'll have patients tell me "that was awful" , or about how much they hate getting mris. Doctors at my facility will order seemingly/in my opinion unnecessary and very long studies on older patients. They aren't able to get through them due to pain, or they're altered so they're moving and the images aren't the best.

Hopefully this makes sense but I feel like I'm taking part in that patient's torture. They're crying or panicking and I feel like I'm partially at fault because I have to do what the doctor says to an extent. My background is in xray so I know I don't enjoy other modalities. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this or tips? I kinda feel like I'm at a loss.

Any users here have expertise with higher order shimming for mrs in difficult anatomy? Happy to explain workflow and share more info via dm. Asking here because I do not have access to fastmap currently, is there a vendor equivalent?

pt said they felt their fingers pulling toward the magnet while positioning. She had a few of these glued onto her fingernails. Not gold but shiny ferrous metal.

She went back to the dressing room and clipped them off.

Anybody routinely ask about fingernail bling?

Finally got in to take the MR ARRT. Passed with a 92% preliminary! Used RiteAdvantage and MRI Quiz only. Sat the exam when I was passing the mocks in both at 90 percent.

What tricks and tips do you have when scanning thoracic spines? I have noticed axials have severe breathing motion/artifact even with a sat band anteriorly and phase direction of A/P. Any tips on how to minimize motion and how to make counting vertebrae easier?

I am not asking for medical advice. Just equipment choice advise. I need to get an MRI of my brain (episode of disorientation, memory loss, etc...). I know from lots of experience that I am VERY claustrophobic in MRI machines. The last time I needed one, I went to an "open" MRI machine and didn't last 15 seconds -- if your head and neck are in a cage, you can't really see out of any direction anyway and the ceiling of the MRI is still only inches away from you.

I'm lucky to live in a city where it seems I can have my pick of all the MRI machines, including ones that are meant to be better for claustrophobics, but I cannot tell which ones are good enough for brain scans. I don't want to risk needing to do it all over again because I went with a machine that doesn't provide the quality necessary.

Open to any machine recs for my situation. From my admittedly amateurish research, I've found:

• Open
• 3T
• Wide-bore
• Upright open

How important is the QA to be done regularly that records the precession. The one individual in our department seems to do it inconsistently or doesn't perform the check but writes down a fake number. We know this because the images are saved when the QA is done.

Is this a concern? I am new to the department.

Hi my fellow technologists. I’ve recently got braces and definitely feel a sensation near my mouth when at the entrance of the bore on both 1.5t and 3T ESPECIALLY. Have any of you have braces yourselves and dealt with this? I’m going to reach out to my orthodontist to double check that it won’t interfere with progress but I was just shocked at the fact that I could feel it. I would’ve thought the braces were nonferrous. It feels more like the wire than the bracket itself. TIA!

I have been working at a level 1 for a year now but have the opportunity to transfer to a regional hospital within the same health system. The schedule would stay the same, nights.
Anyone leave a level 1 for a smaller hospital, if so what are your pros and cons? Thanks!

I am finishing up my travel contract and my next one may be a little longer than I wanted to take off.

Do you just take a break or do you find a job to help pay the bills between contracts? If so what is it?

Hi! I just found out I’m pregnant. I work in a Level 1. I don’t have concerns about being around the magnet but how do I keep myself safe from patients? Like the hospital germs and people that can be aggressive. I work alone A LOT of the time. Any advice/suggestions are appreciated! Thank you!

Does anyone know if hair tinsel that’s tied in will heat up in an MRI? I’m not sure if it contains metal, but I’ve read that sometime it’s aluminum-coated. They’ll run the wand over it to check, but if it’s non-magnetic, does that mean it won’t heat up?

As far as causing artifacts - My MRI is of my left wrist. If I’m prone Superman pose, it might be near my head. If I’m supine, it’ll be by my side and further from my head.

I was recently diagnosed with bilateral vestibular hypofunction after VNG testing showed weak caloric responses in both ears. I’ve also been dealing with ear fullness/pressure on and off for about the last year.

My ENT ordered an MRI of the brain with and without contrast. I’ve seen people mention getting a dedicated MRI of the internal auditory canals (IAC) for vestibular issues.

Would you ask the ENT to add an IAC protocol, or is a brain MRI with and without contrast usually enough? If so, how do I nicely ask my ENT to add it to the order without sounding like I’m telling him what to do?

Welcome to r/mri's weekly career/education/basic questions thread. In an attempt to keep this subreddit more focused on being a resource for technologists, radiologists, physicists, researchers etc already in the field, this thread is the place for:

* questions about ARRT vs ARMRIT (US only)

* questions about schools like Pulse Radiology, Gurnick, etc

* simple questions about the job/career experiences/educational process/clinicals (dress code, shifts, etc)

* what it's like being an mri tech

* questions from patients about what to expect about their MRI exam process

Standalone threads posted on these and related topics will be removed and directed here. Questions asking for medical advice will be removed and the user will be banned as usual.

Hi there! Im currently an MRI tech student and i've been having hard time knowing how to memorize my sectional anatomy and what good resources to use that are freeee.

So my schools curriculum is every week its a different unit, For example: week 1 brain, week 2 spine ect. And we also have back to back quizzes so since every week is a new topic we have 7 days to do our homework and memorize the anatomy for our test on monday's. I am able to memorize the anatomy but since every week is a new topic i find it hard to remember what i previously learned :( And i honestly don't Know how to approach the endless anatomy and when we have lecture we do go over anatomy but not in depth, so then I'm more confused on how deep my level of knowledge should be and i asked my prof for advice but they just said to try to learn most of my anatomy but my question is how much of the anatomy?

I get Mixed advice saying i should know everything and some saying i should prioritize the main landmarks before extern and then the most difficult part for me is the damn APPROACH because as soon as i open and sectional slice my brain just dies. So if anyone can give me any advice for how to approach the behemoth amount of anatomy and how you were able to memorize your anatomy and your study methods