Now I know what happens when metal gets too close to an MRI machine

[flamingyouth]

I had to have another MRI this morning (this one of my brain; I had one of my cervical spine in October). As I was walking into the room with the machine, the tech asked me one last time if I had any metallic objects on me. I didn't, but I couldn't help but notice the key chain in his hand.

"Hey, how can you have those keys in here?" I asked.

"Oh, you can actually have metal in here, just not too close. I'll show you what happens when the keys get closer to the magnet," he says. And he proceeds to walk closer and closer to the machine. "The keys will really jump when I get close enough."

One inch or so later, the entire key ring explodes. Keys are flying everywhere, into the machine, and all over the room. The ring was actually broken in two by the magnetic force. I had to duck to avoid getting hit in the head by flying keys.

Needless to say, he was quite embarrassed. "That's never happened before," he said. "Usually, they just point toward the machine." My test was delayed while he went in there to retrieve the keys and the part of the ring.

Oh - and by the way, he'd just gotten through telling me how this was the finest and most expensive MRI machine in the state of Washington. :D

[Fenris]

1. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

:rofl:

Oh my God. That's fucking priceless.:rofl:

[flamingyouth]

3. Remember that story we saw on the news?

The guy who used the floor polisher at Virginia Mason in their MRI room and caused $75,000 in damage? :D

[Fenris]

21. How could I forget?!

:D

[prolesunited]

2. Well, that certainly would lighten the mood

Can you imagine him explaining that one if he actually "broke the finest and most expensive MRI machine in the state of Washington."

[DS1]

4. Are the keys not magnetic?

[flamingyouth]

5. Maybe not

The key ring, however, most certainly was.

[jmowreader]

24. Keys are normally brass

A key machine uses a wire brush to carve out the key. Steel blanks are harder to cut than brass ones, so they just make 'em out of brass.

Brass isn't magnetic...but the keyrings normally are.

[hippywife]

6. I always have to remember

that I have a metal rod in my leg. I don't even know what the rod is made of. Don't want to find out the hard way. I pray they never have to do an emergency MRI on me and no one is around to tell them.

[purr]

7. You should have a bracelet or a card in your wallet for a just in case

thing. My dad has his entire knee replaced and has both on him at all times. I have cards saying I have an intraocular lens and mitral valve prolapse in my wallet.

Just precautionary :)

[JVS]

8. Get a warning tattooed on the leg

[havocmom]

13. Doesn't the ink in tatoos also cause problems, or is that a myth?

Heard about some inks having metalic pigments and it hurts and pulls some of it OUT of the hide. Myth?

[Maddy McCall]

16. Mythbusters looked into it.

Exploding Tattoos:
The Myth: MRI machines can make tattoos explode!

The Experts: Fergus Coakley - Chief of Abdominal Imaging at UCSF - states that maybe one or two people out of a hundred might have some sort of minor reaction on their tattoo while in an MRI machine.
Mattie - Scottie's friend, who tattooed her arm, helps Kari tattoo the pork belly

The Action/Results: The build team tackles the exploding tattoo myth by trying several different experiments. First, after some fast talking by Adam, Scottie is persuaded to undergo an MRI herself, to see if her tattoos react. They don't, so the next step is to test the dyes and pigments that the tattoos are made from. The only pigment that reacts at all to an electromagnet is the iron oxide, so they decide to put that in the MRI. Before they can even insert it, however, the entire container is pulled right into the middle of the machine! Encouraged, Tory makes up a super-thick batch of iron oxide dye to use. Mattie, Scottie's friend, helps Kari to tattoo some pieces of pork belly - one with the super iron oxide dye, and one with regular iron oxide dye. Both pieces show up with abnormalities in the scan, but there is no swelling or redness, no leaching of the dye, and certainly no explosion.

End Result: Myth Busted

http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/html/killer_quicksand.html

:hi: Havocmom!

[havocmom]

19. Hi Maddy

About your embarrassing MRI with the ex-beau... did you at least remember that you also bagged your masters along with the weight gain, furry appendages and gnarly toenails? ;)

[Maddy McCall]

20. No, I was too concerned about my pitiful physical shape.

:D

[jmowreader]

25. Metal implants are nonmagnetic

They're usually titanium, but they could be stainless steel, and neither one of them is magnetic.

[boston bean]

9. I recall a sad story where a young boy

was killed in the MRI because the nurse did not remove the oxygen tank before the test was started. He died of head injuries.

It's a scary thing. I don't like those machines.

[Wapsie B]

10. There was a patient killed several years ago

by an O2 tank that was allowed too close to the MRI. Can't remember where it was.

[LisaL]

11. What can I say? That guy is an idiot.

[Maddy McCall]

12. My MRI story.

My back was killing me (I have herniated disks in my lumbar spine) and I had lost all feeling in my right leg, so the ER doc wanted me to have a MRI--immediately. Now, as I said, I had no feeling in my right leg and my back had been hurting too badly for me to do any sort of even a primitive pedicure. So I was already embarrassed about my sad looking feet. Additionally, I had not shaved my legs since my back had begun hurting...about two weeks.

I was even more embarrassed when the MRI tech on call was an old boyfriend of mine. All I could do was apologize about my toes and hairy legs. He laughed. And laughed. At me.

To make matters even worse, the MRI tech has to have an idea how much you weigh, so I had to tell him. I had put on about 30 lbs since I had dated him...you know, "the masters' degree 30" LOL. So not only did he see my gnarly feet and hairy legs, he also knew how much weight I had gained.

Terribly embarrassed I was. :blush:

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. Wow, my dear Maddy......

I'd say your former boyfriend was not behaving very professionally, was he?

Good thing you weren't still dating him! Shame on him for embarrasing you like that!

:mad:

[Maddy McCall]

17. He was completely professional about it.

I had not yet been diagnosed with herniated disks--and, since we knew each other really well ;-) ;-) he told me after a quick glance at the MRI that I definitely had herniated disks.

He was kind, compassionate, and we still laugh about my embarrassment to this day. :-)

:hi: Peggy! :hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. Well, in that case......

I'd thought he was being rude.......I'm glad he wasn't!

:hi: Maddy! :hug: back atcha!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

15. Maddy, that freaking frog is the creepiest thing I've ever seen!

[Maddy McCall]

18. And your kid about to get a mouthful of dove poop is pretty freaky.

:7 :hi: YRD.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. Yeah, I'll give you that one.

[sundog]

26. did he damage the machine?

:o

i bet he felt like a real asshole