SU‐D‐18C‐06: Initial Experience with Implementing MRI Safety Guidelines for Patients with Pacemakers – Medical Physicist Perspective

Purpose: Several institutions have developed MRI guidelines for patients with MR‐unsafe or MR‐conditional pacemakers. Here we highlight the role of a medical physicist in implementing these guidelines for non‐pacemaker dependent patients. Guidelines: Implementing these guidelines requires involvemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical physics (Lancaster) 2014-06, Vol.41 (6Part4), p.121-121
Main Authors: James, J, Place, V, Edmonson, H, Felmlee, J, Pooley, R, Panda, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Blood gas monitoring
BLOOD PRESSURE
CARBON 18
CARDIAC PACEMAKERS
Digital image processing
Image scanners
IN VIVO
Magnetic resonance imaging
MAMMARY GLANDS
Medical physicists
Medical radiation safety
NMR IMAGING
OPTIMIZATION
PATIENTS
Radiologists
RECOMMENDATIONS
SAFETY
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Summary:Purpose: Several institutions have developed MRI guidelines for patients with MR‐unsafe or MR‐conditional pacemakers. Here we highlight the role of a medical physicist in implementing these guidelines for non‐pacemaker dependent patients. Guidelines: Implementing these guidelines requires involvement from several medical specialties and a strong collaboration with the site MRI supervisor to develop a structured workflow. A medical physicist is required to be present during the scan to supervise the MR scanning and to maintain a safety checklist that ensures: 1) uninterrupted patient communication with the technologist, 2) continuous patient physiologic monitoring (e.g. blood pressure and electrocardiography) by a trained nurse, 3) redundant patient vitals monitoring (e.g. pulse oximetry) due to the possibility of in vivo electrocardiography reading fluctuations during image acquisition. A radiologist is strongly recommended to be available to review the images before patients are discharged from the scanner. Pacemaker MRI should be restricted to 1.5T field strength. The MRI sequences should be optimized by the physicist with regards to: a) SAR: limited to
ISSN:0094-2405
2473-4209
DOI:10.1118/1.4887914