Standardized Global MRI Patient Safety Matters

Situation: On Tuesday, March 13, 2018, Dr. Emanuel Kanal released MagnetVisionTM, his brainchild and creation designed (in his words) to, "…help formalize, standardize, and even roughly quantify the risks associated with MRI scanning of patients with implants, devices, and foreign bodies". His live demonstration of the app on the MR Safety Facebook Page exposed us to the wonders of what has now instantly gone from dream to reality. For the first time, we can now directly see the fields and energies associated with MRI machines. The 3D rendering allows MRI professionals a deeper understanding of the potential dangers associated with certain objects when introduced into the MR environment. People can now intimately relate to the reasons why exposure of these objects to the machines or the energies that they create, may cause harm.

Background: Several of the MagnetVision™ beta testers and those who saw Dr. Kanal's live, on-line MagnetVision™ application demonstration have been in discussion. There is a shared feeling that this app places us at the dawn of a new age in MR safety and will disseminate understanding and clarity throughout our industry.  MagnetVision™ has the potential to standardize MR Safety throughout our industry. It enables us to identify, evaluate, report and perhaps even roughly quantify exposure levels of implants in specific patients to the various energies - and compare them to their published FDA-approved product labeling. This allows much less guesswork, much less uncertainty and far more confidence when discussing these issues. Our radiologists can literally "see" if we should or should not proceed with the MR study ordered on that specific patient.

Assessment: We know that only some of the MR vendors have managed to get their MR scanner/coil field and energy data to Dr. Kanal in time for this release of version 1 of MagnetVision™. Presently, there are only a relatively few MR scanners included in the app. We decided to get together and create a petition to be distributed to ALL MR vendors. We respectfully request that they provide to Dr. Kanal their MR scanner data for as many MR scanners and coils as possible. This would hopefully include legacy as well as future versions, old and new, so that the entire spectrum of MR users will have access to this tremendous teaching tool and safety enhancement for our patients and our sites.

Recommendation: If you agree with us, please sign this petition for distribution to Canon, GE, Hitachi, Philips, and Siemens.

Thank you.

Signed,

Wendy Young-Stirnkorb
Tobias Gilk
Susan D. McIntyre
Kristin Seitz
Sina Alacano
Jacquelyn Chiffons
Rhys Wallace
Frank Laske, Frank Atoria and Charles McIntyre

"We, the undersigned, recognize the tremendous potential safety benefit to our patients and our sites of Dr. Kanal's new MagnetVision™ app. We most respectfully request that you please provide to him the data that he requires in order to incorporate all of your MRI scanner and coil hardware into that app. Thank you for your consideration and assistance in helping to provide to us the benefits of this teaching tool and safety enhancement on behalf of ourselves, our sites, and our patients."

Respectfully yours in the universal standardization of MR Safety,

Signed,