We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Even Non-Compatible Implanted Devices Are Safe for MRI Scans

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 02 Nov 2020
Print article
A new study confirms that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can be safely performed in patients using appropriate safety protocols, including those who have non-MR compatible implanted devices.

The study, conducted by researchers at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute (Kansas City, MO, USA) and other institutions, involved a total of 532 participants (211 women, mean age 69 years), who underwent 608 MRI examinations. All participants had device interrogations performed before and after each MRI. During the scan, pacemaker-dependent patients received asynchronous pacing, and patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) had tachycardia therapies disabled. An electrophysiology nurse monitored patients for hemodynamic or rhythm abnormalities.

Clinical utility surveys of the MRI examinations were completed by 150 physicians, and according to the survey responses, the examinations changed the suspected diagnosis 25% of the time, and changed suspected prognosis in 26% of participants, with planned medical or surgical treatment being changed 42% of the time. Cardiac devices comprised 27% of all MRI examinations, and included pacemakers (46%), ICDs (30%), cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) pacemakers (4%), CRT defibrillators (17%), and abandoned leads (2%). The study was published on October 22, 2020, in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging.

“While all devices implanted in patients today are MRI compatible, millions of people worldwide, including many young people, have older devices considered not compatible. It’s unfair to tell these people that they can’t get an MRI for the rest of their lives,” said lead author cardiologist Sanjaya Gupta, MD. “We found no serious adverse consequences of performing MRI examinations, including cardiac MRI examinations. The protocol worked amazingly well; we had no issues with any of the patients and no harm to the devices.”

Until now, patients with non-MR compatible devices have been contraindicated from receiving MRI scans because of potential interactions between the MRI and device function, which might result in risk to patients. The restriction has resulted in a critical unmet need, as data have shown that about 36% of such patients in the United States alone are likely to need an MRI.

Related Links:
Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
Mammography System
MAMMOVISTA B.smart
New
Color Doppler Ultrasound System
DRE Crystal 4PX
Dose Calibration Electrometer
PC Electrometer

Print article

Channels

Ultrasound

view channel
Image: Structure of the proposed transparent ultrasound transducer and its optical transmittance (Photo courtesy of POSTECH)

Ultrasensitive Broadband Transparent Ultrasound Transducer Enhances Medical Diagnosis

The ultrasound-photoacoustic dual-modal imaging system combines molecular imaging contrast with ultrasound imaging. It can display molecular and structural details inside the body in real time without... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: PET/CT of a 60-year-old male patient with clinical suspicion of lung cancer (Photo courtesy of EJNMMI Physics)

Early 30-Minute Dynamic FDG-PET Acquisition Could Halve Lung Scan Times

F-18 FDG-PET scans are a way to look inside the body using a special dye, and these scans can be either static or dynamic. Static scans happen 60 minutes after the dye is administered into the body, showing... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more

Industry News

view channel
Image: The acquisition will expand IBA’s medical imaging quality assurance offering (Photo courtesy of Radcal)

IBA Acquires Radcal to Expand Medical Imaging Quality Assurance Offering

Ion Beam Applications S.A. (IBA, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium), the global leader in particle accelerator technology and a world-leading provider of dosimetry and quality assurance (QA) solutions, has entered... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.