Neurological MRI

If you are receiving IV CONTRAST for your exam, have nothing to eat 1 hour prior to your exam time. You may drink clear liquids (example: water, ginger ale, apple juice). 

Because the MRI system uses a very powerful magnet, there are many items that cannot be brought into the exam room. Although a private locker will be provided, it is best to leave certain items at home or with someone during your MRI exam, including:

• Cell phones, pagers, iPads, or any other electronic device
• Credit cards, driver’s license, and any other card with a magnetic strip
• Loose change
• Bobby pins, safety pins or any other item with metallic pieces
• Any loose metallic items on clothing or body
• Glasses, hearing aids and items such as TENS Units will not be able to go into the exam room, but can be worn until just before entering the MRI room

Wear comfortable loose-fitting clothes, such as a sweatsuit. Be sure there are no metal zippers, snaps or buckles. Do not wear earrings, hairpins, or jewelry. Do not apply eye shadow or mascara.

This exam may not be performed if you have a cardiac pacemaker, cerebral aneurysm clips or a metallic hearing implant. If you are a sheet metal worker or have ever had metal fragments in your eye(s), an orbit x-ray will be taken prior to your MRI exam.

After checking in, you will be escorted to a changing room. You will then meet the registered MRI technologist who will be performing your exam. The technologist will review the screening questionnaire and the procedure with you, answering any questions you may have.

When you are ready, you will be asked to lie down on the cushioned MRI table. If you are receiving an MRI exam of your brain, a brain coil will be placed around your head. For most spinal MRI exams, the coil is built into the MRI table. An MRI coil is a lightweight device that acts as an antenna to receive the radio frequency signal coming out of your body and transmit that data to a computer, which then generates the images. If it has been determined that your study requires the use of a contrast material (or dye), the technologist or nurse will perform the injection and administer the contrast. Let us know if you have any allergies. This contrast does not contain iodine.

The table will slowly move into position within the large doughnut-shaped magnet. We provide you with noise-canceling headphones and your choice of music, as you will hear a series of loud thumping noises as the scan is performed. With our modern MRI systems, most exams are over in 3 songs! We ask that you keep very still to help ensure that the images come out clear. Throughout the entire exam, you will be able to communicate with the technologist through an intercom. A neurological MRI exam can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on the specific type of study.

MRI is especially valuable for identifying spinal abnormalities (eg, tumor, abscess) compressing the spinal cord and requiring emergency intervention. Also, MRI is better for detecting demyelinating plaques, early infarction, subclinical brain edema, cerebral contusions, incipient transtentorial herniation, abnormalities of the craniocervical junction, and syringomyelia.

Images of the brain or spinal cord, measure blood flow. MRI is used to diagnose stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain and spinal cord tumors, inflammation, infection, vascular irregularities, brain damage associated with epilepsy, abnormally developed brain regions, and some neurodegenerative disorders. MRI is also used to diagnose and monitor disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses computer-generated radio waves and a powerful magnetic field to produce detailed images of body structures including tissues, organs, bones, and nerves. Neurological MRI is a diagnosis of brain and spinal cord tumors, eye disease, inflammation, infection, and vascular irregularities that may lead to stroke. MRI can also detect and monitor degenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis and can document brain injury from trauma.