MRI

What is an MRI ?

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) allows physicians to view organs and tissues inside the body with clarity. MRIs are different than many other types of imaging because an MRI does not use radiation- instead images are produced using a strong magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy.  Because of the magnetic field, you cannot wear jewelry or have metal of any kind on your body during the MRI.

MRIs can be done on any part of the body; however, they are especially useful for looking at soft tissues (cartilage and ligaments) and the nervous system (spinal cord and brain).  The test is painless, but you must lie still for 30 minutes to an hour. The machine may make loud, thumping, clicking, and whirring noises as the magnet switches on and off.  We will provide you with earplugs or headphones to help block noise out during testing. In some cases, it may be necessary to inject contrast (through an IV in your arm or hand) during an MRI so the tissues      show up more clearly.

Specialized MRI procedures

MRI Breast Imaging

Boone Hospital has state-of-the art dedicated breast MRI equipment.  An MRI of the breast is not a replacement for mammography or ultrasound imaging but rather a supplemental tool that has many important uses.  A breast MRI is sometimes ordered for women who already have been diagnosed with breast cancer to help measure the size of the cancer, look for other tumors in the breast, and to check for tumors in the opposite breast.

MRI-Guided Breast Biopsy

MRI is the most sensitive imaging modality for detecting suspicious lesions or breast cancer at the earliest possible stage. Women who are high risk for breast cancer but who have negative mammogram or ultrasounds and/or women with dense breast tissue are candidates for this MRI breast scanning. Taking a breast biopsy guided in real time by MRI is an important advance in diagnosing breast cancer. For patients, this means avoiding a surgical biopsy. And, perhaps most important, this technology makes it possible to biopsy suspicious tissue that would otherwise have been very difficult, and in some cases impossible, to target with ultrasound or mammography. This is a simple and safe procedure performed by our breast imaging specialists. The procedure requires little recovery time and there is no significant scarring to the breast.

Prostate MRI  Imaging

Having a 3T MRI magnet allows Boone Hospital to offer prostate MRI scans. A 3T scanner will provide the radiologist with high quality images of the prostate gland which is a very small organ. Images from a scanner with a weaker field strength could potentially lead to an inaccurate diagnosis. Imaging of the prostate with our high-quality MRI system is totally painless and may help avoid a prostate biopsy in some patients.