MRI Houston

Hitachi Airis Elite Open MRI in Houston

Open MRI, with Comfort and Space

Patients who could feel claustrophobic in a “tunnel” MRI, particularly patients who are bit heavy, generally have no trouble in our open MRI. And it’s a pleasant experience even for your child. In fact, a friend or family member can sit with the patient and even hold their hand while we perform the scan. We make each patient comfortable with cushioned pads, soft pillows, and sponges that are specially formed to fit both the body and the needs of the test.

MRI, Diagnosis without X-Rays or Surgery

MRI gives your doctor a safe, efficient method to diagnose many medical conditions without using harmful x-rays. Because MRI is noninvasive, it enables doctors to detect and treat many conditions without surgery or biopsy. This makes MRI an excellent method to safely examine the soft tissue of the body including organs, muscles, and tendons.

Safe Diagnostic Method

MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves, which have no known harmful effects. However, some patients who have certain medical conditions, for example pregnancy and some kinds of metallic or electronically implanted devices, cannot have an MRI test. Having a metallic implant does not necessarily mean you cannot be diagnosed with the use of MRI. Please consult with your doctor or MRI technologist.

Doctor’s Referral for an MRI

Since your doctor is qualified to say if an MRI scan is the best approach, we need a referral from her or him before we can perform the scan. The referral also gives us the information we need to perform the study that is right for your conditions.

Preparing for an MRI Scan

Unless we are performing certain scans of the abdomen or pelvis, you won’t have any restrictions on what you eat or drink before we perform your MRI scan.

Jewelry and other metallic items can interfere with the scan and should be be removed. You can leave those items in our dressing rooms. You clothing should not have hooks, snaps, zippers, or anything else metallic.

You are welcome to wear your own sweats, shorts, or loose clothing. We also have gowns or scrubs you can change into and wear for the scan.

What to Expect During an MRI Scan

For your scan, we will ask you to lie down on the scanning table, generally on your back. We will use pillows, blankets and sponges to make you comfortable. Then we will place an MRI coil around the part of your body to be scanned. This coil directs the magnetic energy to the area your doctor has asked us to scan. The scan lasts for about 30-45 minutes. During this time we will ask you to lie still.

Sounds You Will Hear During the Scan

While the MRI system is scanning, you will hear a faint, variating knocking sound. This sound is a produced by the scan process. If you would rather not hear the sounds, we can give you ear plugs. We also have a variety of music to help you relax, and you’re welcome to bring your own CDs, MP3 player, iPod, etc. A two-way intercom system allows you and the technologist to communicate with each other.

What to Tell the Technologist before the Scan

If you have a pacemaker or any other surgically implanted device in your body, please let the the technologist know that. Also tell the technologist if you have had any previous surgeries, including heart surgery to implant a pacemaker or any other devices, brain surgery to implant aneurysm clips, back surgery,  or cochlear implants. In addition, let the technologist know if you are pregnant or have a history of working with metal or if you work or have worked in the metal trades.

Delivery of MRI Results

We fax a preliminary report to your doctor as soon as the radiologist reads your film, usually the same day. Your doctor will be sent the full, transcribed report on the next business day.

Open MRI  Has High Quality

Images from our Hitachi OPEN MRI Systems compare very well to the images generated in a closed system. Using state-of-the-art technology and aggressively pursuing the latest developments in protocols has allowed us to improve the quality of scans generated by Open Advanced MRI dramatically.

Should Anyone not Have an MRI?

MRI is not at all dangerous to most patients. However, the strong magnetic field can disrupt implanted metallic devices such as pacemakers, heart valves, aneurysm clips. For this reason, people with certain medical conditions cannot have an MRI.

MRI’s for Children

Your child can certainly have an MRI. You may stay in the scan room and hold your child’s hand during the scan. This way, you and your child can both be free from any apprehension about the procedure.

I’m Pregnant. Should I Have an MRI?

Although there no known side effects from MRI, MRI is usually not recommended for patients who are pregnant, especially in the first trimester.

Interpreting the MRI Scan

Your scan is read by a board-certified radiologist, a medical doctor with specialty training in reading diagnostic images. Such images include x-rays, CAT scans, ultrasounds and MRI’s. Your doctor will be sent the radiologist’s report.