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Soonrboy
6/13/2006, 03:38 PM
this Friday on my leg. My leg is swollen and the sonographs and bone scan showed there might be something in the tissue in my lower leg. Now, here's my stupid question...does just my leg go in the MRI machine?

TexasLidig8r
6/13/2006, 03:45 PM
http://www.goingfora.com/radiology/graphics/mri_machine.gif It's like a microwave.. it zaps you and hopefully, your skin doesn't just flay off.

Hamhock
6/13/2006, 03:48 PM
Lid's pic is an "open" MRI. Other MRI's are more of a tube that your body goes into.

Lots of people insist on the open b/c they are less confining. However, when they first came out, the opens were inferior in actual diagnostic use. Not sure if this is still the case.

IB4OU2
6/13/2006, 03:49 PM
No, most of your body will. If you are having an open sided MRI then you won't be surrounded by the machine on three sides, if not you will be surrounded by the machine up to your shoulders. Iv'e had 3 MRI procedures performed in the last 2 years and I like the "open sided" the best. Good Luck and ask for drugs if you're claustrophobic. :)

BoogercountySooner
6/13/2006, 03:50 PM
I had one done in December and I was on some pain Meds. and I just slept through it. I remember it being very tight space wise and Loud. My whole body was in there.

soonerbrat
6/13/2006, 03:51 PM
hope you dont' have any prison tattoos

Soonrboy
6/13/2006, 03:54 PM
okay, I bite..why prison tatoos?

I'm a pretty big guy, so I'm assuming they will use the open MRI, if it's available.

Sooner Born Sooner Bred
6/13/2006, 04:00 PM
And if you are preggers they don't do it either.

Soonrboy
6/13/2006, 04:11 PM
I did have unprotected sex with my wife ..hmm

My Opinion Matters
6/13/2006, 04:17 PM
Wrong. You're all wrong.

Don't get an open MRI. Those should only be done as a last resort, like if you're severely claustrophobic or weigh over 350 pounds. The open MRI architecture is achieved by sacrificing magnetic field strength. The lower the field strength of the magnet, the less diagnostic quality the images have. Any MRI machine under 1.5 tesla, don't bother. Unless they have no idea what they're doing you'll be going into the machine feet first. Any modern full strength MRI machine is open at both ends of the tunnel. The tunnels on most newer machines are no more than 6 feet long, the older ones 8 feet. The body part being imaged goes into the center of the magnet, but your head should still be close to the opening. Oh, and if you're getting an MRI of your lower leg, go in ready for a nap. You're going to be there a while. If they do it correctly, that is.

My Opinion Matters
6/13/2006, 04:20 PM
Oh, and don't worry about tattoos. Do not, I repeat DO NOT get your penis pierced between now and the time you have your MRI.

Soonrboy
6/13/2006, 04:22 PM
How is it different than a bone scan?

My Opinion Matters
6/13/2006, 04:29 PM
How is it different than a bone scan?

They're two totally different animals. Bone scans are a typle of nuclear medicine study where you're injected with a radioactive isotope and the machine watches for any peculiar uptake, they call thim "hot spots"

MRI utilizes no ionizing radiation whatsoever, however it does work on the principle of energy transfer. Basically, the MRI machine turns your body into a radio station and then tunes in to listen to it. If you've got some type of mass in your leg, you'll most likely be injected with an element called gadolinium about half-way through the test. It's a solution of trace elements of magnetic materials that react much stronger proportionally than normal human tissue. It's very safe.

soonerbrat
6/13/2006, 04:30 PM
okay, I bite..why prison tatoos?

I'm a pretty big guy, so I'm assuming they will use the open MRI, if it's available.


because they have a lot of heavy metal in the ink and the magnet will rip them out of your skin.

GottaHavePride
6/13/2006, 04:31 PM
Woot! We need a "The Thing In Soonrboy's Leg" farkoff, STAT!

My Opinion Matters
6/13/2006, 04:31 PM
because they have a lot of heavy metal in the ink and the magnet will rip them out of your skin.

Old wives tale.

Hamhock
6/13/2006, 04:36 PM
Wrong. You're all wrong.

Don't get an open MRI. Those should only be done as a last resort, like if you're severely claustrophobic or weigh over 350 pounds. The open MRI architecture is achieved by sacrificing magnetic field strength. The lower the field strength of the magnet, the less diagnostic quality the images have. Any MRI machine under 1.5 tesla, don't bother. Unless they have no idea what they're doing you'll be going into the machine feet first. Any modern full strength MRI machine is open at both ends of the tunnel. The tunnels on most newer machines are no more than 6 feet long, the older ones 8 feet. The body part being imaged goes into the center of the magnet, but your head should still be close to the opening. Oh, and if you're getting an MRI of your lower leg, go in ready for a nap. You're going to be there a while. If they do it correctly, that is.


ahem.

hurricane'bone
6/13/2006, 05:20 PM
because they have a lot of heavy metal in the ink and the magnet will rip them out of your skin.


busted on mythbusters

BlondeSoonerGirl
6/13/2006, 05:24 PM
I do know a guy that has tats all over his melon (heh) and the Doc told him that he'd never be able to get a valid CAT Scan because of the ink.

I wonder if that's true...

GottaHavePride
6/13/2006, 05:26 PM
I could see it messing with the magnetic fields enough to make the scan fuzzy. I thought they just found on Mythbusters that they got slightly warm, or something.

StoopTroup
6/13/2006, 05:29 PM
Now, here's my stupid question...does just my leg go in the MRI machine?
It really depends on whether you have good insurance or not....

http://www.lincsfm.co.uk/media/uploads/timetunnel_1_1.jpg

My Opinion Matters
6/13/2006, 05:32 PM
I do know a guy that has tats all over his melon (heh) and the Doc told him that he'd never be able to get a valid CAT Scan because of the ink.

I wonder if that's true...

There may be some truth to that. A CT scan wouldn't injure the guy, but CT scanners are just super-powered x-ray machines. X-ray radiography works on the principle of differential attenuation, meaning different body tissues absorb x-rays differently. Dense tissue such as bone absorbs more x-rays than soft tissue, therefore fewer x-ray photons reach the image intensifier in the area of the bone. This is what makes the contrast on an x-ray image. Very dense material, like metals, make x-rays go haywire. Almost all the x-ray energy is either absorbed or scattered by metal objects, which causes bright, streaky lines all over CT images.