Mri

WHAT HAPPENS ?
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING ?
You should turn up for your appointment at least 15minutes early to allow for getting changed and so that some Instead of using radiation( in normal xrays or a CATscan) or sound (ultrasound ) Magnetic resonance Imaging [M.R.I.]uses magnetic energy to get the information for a computer You can eat and drink before the MRI.
to generate pictures of the body. The picture in general canbe far better than images gained by other means. Different The magnet will destroy anything magnetic so do not take types of images can also be generated. They are generated by credit cards/phone cards/watch or anything metallic into the turning a giant magnet on and off and measuring your PATIENT ABOUT TO GO INTO
MRI IMAGE OF
M.R.I. FOR BRAIN SCAN
The scan will take anything between 20 minutes and 1 hour DISC PROLAPSE
They will check if you have any metal in you with a metaldetector. You may even require some Xrays to check this.
WHAT IS IT USED FOR ?
You will get into a gown and go into the MRI room which is It can show much more detail than a normal CAT scan magnetically sheilded. If it is a spinal MRI you will lie on a Blood vessels can be looked at for abnormalities.
CT IMAGE OF
special sensor but if it is of your brain you will place your It can be used to screen for certain conditions.
SAME DISC PROLAPSE
head into a special coil as seen in the picture.
It can be used to add further information needed to make A special type of conveyer belt takes you fully into the machine. It is usually a close fit. You have headphones to MELBOURNE
listen to some music. A fan blows air through the tunnel to It may be used to image
Spine /spinal cord
The images are no good if you move so it is very important
It may show a disc prolapse not seen on a CAT scan to keep still.
WHY ARE YOU HAVING AN M.R.I. ?
It shows the spinal cord which is not seen well on CAT scanIt shows the quality of your discs.
You can contact the technician by a buzzer and they can It can diagnose some neurological conditions.
hear you . They will give instructions from time to time.
There is probably more information needed by your doctor If you need to get out push the buzzer to let them know.
either to help with surgery or to determine if surgery is There is a lot of loud banging while the machine works The brain
It reduces the need to get an angiogram to look at the If you need contrast you will be brought out of the machine cerebral vessels when looking for abnormalities.
and this is injected into a vein and you go back in.
It may show things not seen on a CAT scan.
WHO CAN ORDER AN M.R.I. ?
It will help diagnose some condidtions.
When it is finished you can go home. The pictures andreport are usually sent to the doctor who referred you, but Usually only a specialist can order an M.R.I. if you wish to Nerves in the limbs.
somtimes you will be requested to pick them up.
get the medicare rebate. If not it can be ordered by your It can show compression in the nerves in your hands or leg.
It is used to show tumours in nerves .
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO TELL THE
Contrast
DOCTOR BEFORE HAVING AN M.R.I. ?
This is not the same as Xray contrast so that even if you are Precautions
allergic to Xray contrast you can usually have the MRIcontrast which is injected. Contrast is not always needed.
Usually you cannot have an MRI if you have Cerebral Aneurysm clipsMetal clips in head for other reasonCardiac pacemaker ME L B O U R N E
How much and who Pays the bill
This depends not only on where you are having the MRI Spinal cord stimulators or other types of stimulator If it is a workcover problem then they usually pay the bill.
If it is not workcover and you are going to a registered scanner then medicare will pay part or all of the bill. There (tell us if you were in a war or ever been a welder) is usually some out of pocket expense and it depends onwhere the scan is done as to how much this is.
If there is a doubt about you having a contraindication then If the scanner is not registered then medicare does not pay a either your doctor will be contacted or you may be reap- component of the bill and the fees vary greatly for this scan.
pointed. Sometimes you will have an Xray of your eyes orother parts of the body just to make sure.
Pregnancy
Please let us Know.
If the test can be avoided we would, especially in the first ME L B O U R N E
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
three months. There are some sites that use the MRI toactually look at the baby and also do an MRI to avoid 545 ROYAL PARADE
normal X rays so it is not totally contraindicated.
PARKVILLE VIC 3052
PHONE 03 9816 - 9844
Claustraphobia
FACSIMILE 03 9816 - 9877
MELBOURNE NEUROSURGERY
This is the fear of enclosed places. If this is a problem then ACN 082 289 316
tell us before we book the scan. The reason for this is that there are scanners called OPEN MRI units. These are not as This brochure is to provide general infor- enclosed as normal machines. The only problem is that the mation and does not replace a consultation with your doctor.
pictures from an open scanner are usually not as good. If the pictures need to be done on an enclosed machine thensedation may be required and we like to organise this prior This brochure is copyright. No part of it may be repro- duced in any form without prior permission from the pub-

Source: http://www.neurosurgery.com.au/pdfs/procedure/mri.pdf