Comfort and Calm
in Open MR Image Guided Procedures:
The use of high speed Open MRI for image guided
injections at the Institute for Nerve Medicine
also avoids the claustrophobia experienced by
some patients in closed tube MRI scanners. Image
guidance scans can be acquired in as little
as fourteen seconds per image series, thus avoiding
the discomfort experienced during diagnostic
MRI scanning where a patient must remain motionless
for the three to ten minutes it usually takes
to complete a scan.
When X-ray fluoroscopic
guidance is used, the patient is offered required
to assume some uncomfortable position in order
to accomodate the inflexibility of the X-ray
system. Also the use of X-ray sources and image
intensifiers often limits the options for the
use of padding around the patient. Open MR can
be conducted with a variety of patient padding
and positioning devices to optimize patient
comfort.
In general, Open MR procedures
are less painful. This is because the doctor
can easily see exactly where the needle is and
where it is traveling. When X-ray is used, the
doctor has to infer the details. This often
means driving a needle into painful contact
with bone and then marching along the bone surface.
This type of exploration can usually be avoided
in Open MR procedures.
