When you search for Magnetic Resonance Imaging “MRI” on the internet, confusion is inevitable because medical devices are similar and you might think that MRI uses X-rays! Information may become entangled with you in the presence of several sources.
Therefore, in this article, we will elaborate on what an MRI and Open mri is how it is performed, what disorders it can diagnose, and what side effects it can cause so that you are fully informed before the examination.
What is an Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?
(MRI) is one of the most advanced imaging methods in medicine for the detection of living tissue. In short, it is called MRI, from its English name, Magnetic Resonance Imaging. An MRI machine uses a “magnetic field” and radio waves to scan accurately different tissues and organs in the body to diagnose many diseases.
Benefits of MRI
MRI scan has several advantages, on top of them is:-
- Safety: Magnetic Resonance Imaging’s top advantage is that it is free of harmful radiation, which makes MRI examinations recommended for pregnant women and children.
- Accuracy: MRI provides an accurate diagnostic ability, as in many cases, MRI can produce more detailed scans than Computed Tomography (CT).
- Diagnostic ability: Add to the above benefits its diagnostic ability for many diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, bone, joint and muscle deformities, vascular diseases, and brain problems, and this is what we will explain below.
Magnetic resonance imaging indications
Magnetic resonance imaging is used to detect accurately many diseases in the human body. There is imaging of several areas of the body, such as MRI of the head, back, heart, abdomen, joints, and bones.
Head Magnetic resonance imaging indications
- Detection of bleeding or swelling
- Detection of tumors and cases of epilepsy
- Brain cancer detection
- Detecting inflammation of the upper spine
Back MRI indications
- Evaluation of the integrity of the spinal cord or vertebrae after accidents.
- Evaluation & alignment of the spine and detection of infection or scarring.
- Detecting injury to bones or ligaments.
- Evaluation of cartilaginous disc diseases and tumors.
- Joint disease assessment with Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
- Detection of abnormal congenital disorders of the vertebrae or spinal cord.
- Research about potential causes of back pain.
- Contribute to planning surgeries to be performed on the spine.
Heart and blood vessels MRI indications
- Evaluation of the structure of the heart and aorta.
- Detection of the size of the heart chambers and the thickness of the walls of the heart.
- Detection of dilation, inflammation, and blockage of blood vessels.
- Assessment of damage caused by heart attacks.
- Detecting tumors.
Abdominal MRI indications
- Detection of any injuries or bleeding in the abdominal or pelvic area after accidents.
- Prenatal care &fetal growth checkups by imaging the abdomen, pelvis, &uterine regions.
- Know the causes of abdominal and pelvic pain.
- Identifying birth defects in the abdomen or pelvis.
- Detection of any tumors in the abdomen or pelvis.
- Detecting the reasons for the inability to urinate or pass stools normally.
- Detection of problems in the reproductive organs of both men and women.
- Detection of abnormalities in the kidneys, liver, spleen, uterus, pancreas, ovaries, and prostate.
In addition to the uses described above, Magnetic Resonance Imaging can be used to detect breast tumors. It is worth noting that your doctor may postpone the surgery or diagnose the disease more accurately, and thus change the medication in some cases after MRI scan results.
Risks and side effects of Magnetic resonance imaging
After you know the benefits and advantages of this type of examination, you will certainly wonder about its disadvantages. W should clarify that over almost 45 years of using magnetic resonance imaging, no harmful effects have been reported.
However, it should be noted that the device provides a strong magnetic environment, and therefore any metal parts found in clothes or accessories must be removed before the procedure. The device strongly pulls any metal items near its bore, causing damage to the device and harm to the patient and workers inside the examination room. But when there are metal parts inside the patient’s body, such as a pacemaker, metal plates, or cochlear implants, MRIisn’t permitted in any way.
MRI exam preparation and procedure
The magnetic resonance examination involves resting for 30 to 40 minutes inside a device similar to a capsule or tube, where strong magnets and radio waves are applied to scan the tissues and organs of the body.
- The magnet arranges the hydrogen atoms in the body on one level
- The device then sends radio waves after that toward the body, which leads to a change in the orientation of these atoms.
- Then, at that point, the computer calculates the time it took for these atoms to return to their initial state, which helps in forming the scanned image.
Best places to get a Magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) is one of the most expensive examinations in general, and one of the tests is not generally accessible in numerous hospitals. So when you choose the place for the examination, you should search for the hospital or center that has this device and then choose the place partnering with the insurance company that you are subscribed to cover all your examination costs.
Furthermore, we prefer you choose an examination center rather than a hospital to avoid the crowd and reduce the possibility of infection, and we additionally recommend centers that have advanced open MRI devices, as it is suitable for claustrophobic patients, obese patients, and children for it is open on the two sides and does not cause them any inconvenience.
We at The Open MRI Center are pleased to provide the open MRI imaging service using one of the best and most accurate open MRI devices in the UAE. as it allows the diagnosis of many diseases diagnosed by the closed device with high precision.
We should note that consulting a doctor is necessary before resorting to an open Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan, as sometimes it may be more suitable for diagnosing some diseases than others.
Conclusion
In this article, we introduced magnetic resonance imaging; we elaborated on the differences between MRI and X-rays ; we presented more than 20 uses of MRI exams; and discussed the importance of the open MRI device for pregnant women, phobias, children, and obese patients.