Archive for the ‘MR Safety’ Category

New CNI SOP with Increased Occupancy Limits

October 8th, 2020

We have good news to report.

There have been a number of recent developments in Stanford’s Research Recovery process, several of which will benefit CNI users. The first is the increase in density restrictions for laboratory space which will now allow up to 3 people to be present in the CNI scan room or control room.  These new occupancy limits are described in our updated SOP on the CNI Wiki and will also be posted onsite.  It is still the responsibilty of users to make sure they maintain adequate social distancing of 6′ even with these increased occupancy limits.

The other developments are in regards to human subject research.  Approval was granted for the pilot resumption of a non-clinical human subjects longitudinal study at CNI.  The outcome of this study will be reported to the Non-Clinical Human Subjects Research Policy Group and it’s our hope that this will enable more widespread approval of non-clinical human subject research.  Approval was also granted for both clinical and non-clinical human subject research studies to enroll participants who were clinical patients and visited either SHC or LPCH.  These subjects should participate in the  human subject research study either on the same day or as closely following their clinical appointment as possible.  There are additional requirements which are described in detail on the Research Recovery website.  Given the continuing evolution of the research stages and human subject research guidelines, we will no longer attempt to describe these in the CNI SOP but instead refer all users and PIs to the Research Recovery website.

As research activity resumes, we urge all of our users to continue to be vigilant in applying the safeguards and guidelines that have been put in place to prevent COVID-19 transmission.  Continuation of research activity will depend on the Stanford community maintaining very low rates of infection and so it’s dependent upon all of us to each do our part.

Stay safe,

The CNI Team

Lululemon clothes: MRI safe?

March 9th, 2016

This recently came across to us, so we thought we would pass it on and remind users of the importance of having subjects be aware of their clothing and suggest that they change into scrubs prior to getting in the scanner if there are any concerns.

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“The comfortable, stretch, barely-there yoga pants all girls know and love have metal mesh built into the fabric, which is what helps keep the body dry during exercise. How metal mesh actually helps prevent sweat is a whole other conundrum [ref].”

Of course, shirts and pants are not the only garments to have embedded metals – undergarments are also risky. Beware of the following, which have caused issues:

  • metal threads and buttons in men’s boxer shorts
  • metal stays in women’s bras and other under garments

New ‘MR Unsafe’ contact lens, Triggerfish, used to monitor intraocular pressure

March 9th, 2016

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Triggerfish (Sensimed AG, http://www.sensimed.ch/en/) contact lens sensor that provides an automated recording of continuous eye pressure changes over the course of 24 hours.

“The Triggerfish gives the clinician 24-hour continuous monitoring of changes in [intraocular pressure (IOP)] patterns that otherwise could not be obtained,” William Maisel, MD, MPH, acting director of the Office of Device Evaluation in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a news release. “This information can help determine the most critical time of day for the clinician to measure the patient’s IOP.”

According to the manufacturer, this device is MR Unsafe.

As stated:
Do not wear the SENSIMED Triggerfish® while exposed to intense electromagnetic fields such as MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) which could result in severe eye burn.

Cheers,
Michael & the CNI staff