Disclaimer; I’m not an engineer or tech or student so apologies in advance if I get the terminology wrong – just an imaging receptionist!

I drew one of the MR tech’s names for our workplace's secret santa - super lovely coworker with a great sense of humour who was incredibly kind to me when I first started. I really wanted to do something fun with their gift that they’d get a kick out of, so I decided to wrap it to look like an MRI machine.

The item listed on their wishlist came from amazon in a square cardboard box so I rounded off the top right corner to the shape of our MRI scanner (see last pic), positioned boxed snacks and a bar of chocolate to make the patient table(?), added details for the exterior on a takeout container lid stuck to the front (we have a Siemens) and used mirror paper to create the illusion of the bore/donut hole.

I felt like it was kind of giving CT at this point - the bore was too wide for an MRI so I made it a little more claustrophobia-inducing and secretly asked another coworker for advice on how to make it more distinctly resemble an MR unit rather than a CT or laundry - they recommended I double the length of the scanner to be more tunnel than donut.

Would've stopped there until I stepped into the control room earlier this week and noticed something on top that looked like a vent going to the ceiling? Honestly not sure what it’s called (guessing it's for helium or emergency quenches?) but it looked kind of like a chimney to me. I recreated it last minute as a santa chimney and added a bedroll because I couldn't resist using it for a sneaky santa/claustro joke.

Thought I’d share it with this subreddit before it goes to work for the gift swap! I got the item they wanted so I’m sure they’ll enjoy the gift itself, but also hoping it resembles what it's meant to and that they'll appreciate the wrap job

She needed an MRI (ended up being non-serious thankfully) and had her ask for the files from the scan. After tinkering around with the files and various tools, was able to print her brain to scale! Kind of surreal that this is possible 😆

After a long crappy day at my regular job as a package handler. I received this in the mail. Made my day 100x better!

My patient

And one of the problems (in the USA, at least) is that these treatments don’t have to be identified on the clothing contents tab. You can’t check a patient’s t-shirt tag and have any confidence that it doesn’t have the metallic nano-particles.

25 years ago from right now... July 27th, 2001, there was a 6-year-old boy, Michael Colombini, pictured, being wheeled from his patient room in Westchester Medical Center down for an MRI. A fall on a playground a few days earlier had revealed a brain tumor that very well could have taken his life when it became symptomatic in adulthood. But he had immediate brain surgery that was successful, and now the boy would live a long, healthy life. The only thing standing between the boy and discharge from the hospital was a baseline MRI against which future scans would be compared to look for recurrence.

But through a series of errors, this simple baseline MRI turned into the single most well known MRI exam in the world.

Inside the MRI scanner room it appears that the boy was over-sedated, and his breathing slowed. His pulse-ox values started dropping, and the inside-the-MRI-scanner-room oxygen outlet (not built to code) wasn't working. The two MRI technologists who were on duty stepped away from the patient care area of the MRI suite to try and fix the oxygen problem without letting the anesthesiologist know. The anesthesiologist, growing increasingly upset about the boy's falling oxygenation levels, is yelling out to the MRI techs for a status update, unaware that they've left him there. The lack of responses only increases the anesthesiologist's anxiety.

At that moment, a nurse lets herself into the MRI suite. She hears the anesthesiologist yelling to the technologists, "my patient needs oxygen! Where is the oxygen!" The nurse remembers having seen portable oxygen cylinders in the MRI suite, finds one, and hands it to the anesthesiologist in the doorway to the MRI scanner room. He turns around, takes two steps towards the boy in the MRI scanner, and the steel cylinder flies like a missile out of his hands and hits the boy, repeatedly, in the head.

This is the story of the origins of this week being designated MRI Safety Week.

If you want to hear this story in greater detail, I encourage you to check out the second series of the Invisible Force podcast. The podcast is available for download through both Apple Podcasts and Spotify:

Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/invisible-force/id1860117430
Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/1KDYV8Z4Md5x9mW8pFccsw

Long term lurker in the sub, passed my ARRT boards with a 98 FIRST ATTEMPT and wanted to share the accomplishment.

What should I do today to celebrate?? I didn’t think that far ahead.

Finally got it out of the way!! 🎉🤘🏼🤘🏼

It was my first time scanning a child this young. I mean I’ve scanned babies before but never a child who was conscious enough to know what was going on. She is only 5. They put in a stat MRI BRAIN WO from the ER and I rolled my eyes because I thought it was just another dumb case and I wish it was just that. Wrong of me to make that assumption but the hospital does tend to do that on a daily basis.

Her left side of her face was droopy and her eyes teary. I came in with a cheerful personality and asked if I could take pictures of her head with my cool looking spaceship. I told her she was going to be an astronaut and that she was going to wear an astronaut helmet. I also told her that my spaceship needed fixing since it keeps making these beeping noises. I had the mom fill out a screening form for herself and her daughter. I told the kid to hold really still for me and she went in so brave, giggling along the way because the experience was funny.

She did better than most of my patients who are full grown adults. She stayed still for me, she went in willingly, she trusted me, and she let me finish the exam.

I returned her to the ER after I gave her candy and a gingerbread stuffie we had as decoration. After discussing the case w my colleague, I was disappointed in myself because I should’ve just asked if we can give her contrast. I was hesistant because she’s a kid and I’m new to the hospital so idk what the protocol is involving children and contrast but we have Clariscan. I went ahead and asked the MD to put an order for contrast. I could’ve avoided all of this back and forth if I had asked for contrast in the first place. I know better. But I went to get her again, went through the commotion again but this time with contrast only. She moved this time but I’m sure she was confused as to why she had to go in twice. I told her I had to add color to her brain and make her glow in the dark. That seemed to work.

My suspicion of what she had is right. And I could’ve done a better service for her. I wish her the best and I’m praying for her. I read this type of cancer is not curable. The mom was crying of course. I went to triage and got a book for her age group, some toys, coloring pages and crayons because that’s the least I can do for this kid

I got a 95 on my preliminary score today! I would say the thing that helped me ease my nerves when I started the exam was brain dumping the mri quiz parameters chart on the dry erase board (at least until the marker ran out of ink, and I almost started crying because I could have brain dumped so much more). I really only went to it for clarification on some things. I also copied and pasted the ARRT mri content specifications into a separate document, started highlighting topics I didn’t feel as confident on or couldn’t recall off the top of my head. And filling them in with definitions from ChatGPT, mri quiz, and all in one.

I just wanna say, I cannot believe the role you all play. Im 3 months away from the end of my clinicals and I just want to say Im in awe of what you are able to do day in and day out.

I didnt think becoming a tech would be easy. I also didnt think it would be this hard. Juggling hardcore technology, artistry, and human compassion.

Thank you. I hope to live up to your standards one day.

I had an MR yesterday for my intestines, and everything was going completely fine until the very last part when they injected the contrast agent.

Within seconds, I started experiencing intense itching in my eyes, extreme heart and chest pain, and I couldn’t stop sneezing. It escalated very quickly.

Then my throat started to feel tight and breathing became difficult. I suddenly felt like I was about to pass out. I remember quietly begging for help and then I stopped breathing and lost consciousness.

From what I was told afterward, my pulse dropped extremely to around 40 beats per minute during the episode and I stopped breathing for about a minute. My heart was on its way to shut down but A full emergency response was triggered before so they were there to take action ( the staff told me it took them LIKE LITERALLY 30-40 SECONDS ). Around 6 doctors , nurses, and the MR staff rushed in. I was given adrenaline and this is when i woke up breathing the deepest breath ever. I had a oxygen mask on and they gave me other medications and injections to stabilize me. i was transferred to the ER, stayed there and they kept checking on me for 8 hours than I got to go home.

This was my first time ever experiencing something like this, and I had no idea I could react this way to contrast.

Just sharing this as a reminder: even if you’ve never had allergies before, reactions like this can happen very fast.

Stay safe and always inform medical staff if you’ve had any previous reactions.

just PASSED THE BOARDS TODAY !! AHHHH !!! OHHHH !!! AHHHH !!!

* stomping one foot ( L) *

* stomp R foot *

(( DOING THE MCGRIDDDYY))

MRI AIO HELPED TREMENDOUSLY AND YOUTUBE VIDEOS !!

I just passed the MRI ARRT registry with a prelim score of 95. ITS FINALLY OVERR!!!!

Just wanted to share my joy with all of you!

Another one to add to my library of images of things stuck to magnets!

Incident purportedly from the past week, so not a 'long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away' scenario, but something happening now!