 It is my privelege to welcome you for the second time this year to one of our fully public issues of the MRI Newsletter! In April and again this month all the feature articles (in the column to your right) are available to everyone, paid and complimentary subscribers, alike.And as we prepare to enter the third third of the year, we update the MRI Newsletter Article Archive to contain the last four months of features. You can always browse the archive to see the full list of articles published in the MRI Newsletter and we are working on an index of articles (either by us or featuring us) that have appeared in other media.
It's also worth noting for any of you who receive only the complimentary subscription that August marks the final pro-rating of our calendar-year subscription, down to only $40! If you sign up now, you will receive the subscribers' edition of this and all the remaining newsletters for 2005.
In just one week we will be in San Antonio, presenting at AHRA. We hope to see many of you there. For those of you who won't be able to join us, watch this column for future news about the availability of audio or video recordings of our presentation.
Tobias Gilk
Junk Architects, PC
Invite Your Friends & Colleagues.
We are always pleased to share the newsletter with your friends. If you would like to invite a colleague to receive the complimentary version of the MRI Newsletter, please let us know and we will extend an invitation to them on your behalf.
Click here to refer a friend
Join Us In August At AHRA! Join us either Tuesday morning, the 9th, or Wednesday afternoon, the 10th, for our presentation 'MRI Suite Safety Challenges.' Last year's presentation was one of the conference's highest-rated breakout sessions and the two presentations this year promise to be even better. But don't take our word for it, here are a few comments taken directly from last year's Speaker Evaluation Forms:"Excellent presentation - very informative - need more technical courses such as this one!"
"Technically robust, well presented."
"The best course of the entire conference! Do have more like this."
Click below to be taken to
www.AHRA.com (annual meeting page)
This year's presentations are being graciously sponsored by the new MR-Safe fire extinguisher, Cleanguard® FE13NM by Ansul, with additional underwriting from the SafeScan® family of MRI suite ferromagnetic detectors from Mednovus.
FDA Cites Hitachi MRI Safety Issues.
The FDA released a copy of a letter sent to Hitachi, warning the company about repeated failures to report safety incidents with MRI systems. The FDA letter specifies incidents in which patients reportedly suffered hearing damage and one patient who was reportedly burned. The letter also references one incident in which a Hitachi MRI caught fire! Click here to read more about the report
MRI Newsletter - Article Archive Is Now On Line!
We're pleased to provide an archive of all previous MRI Newsletter articles. Click here to see all the articles that have appeared in the Newsletter, including features on 'Magnetic Contamination,' 'ACR 4-Zone,' and 'Construction Planning,' just to name a few.
We should note that, while the archive index is available to everyone, only subscribers will be able to access the full text of all articles. Articles that appeared in this year's April and August issue are available to everyone.
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Four Years After The Tragedy:
The Wake Of An MRI Death.
By Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA and Tobias Gilk
Building codes, JCAHO requirements, architectural guidelines, ACR design standards, insuror credentialing / privileging processes... in the four years following the death of Michael Colombini, which of these hasn't implemented requirements for MRI patient safety in facility design for new magnetic resonance imaging facilities? Which of these groups, each charged with the safety and welfare of patients and the public, has failed to require facility safety standards for MRI suites in the last four years? Would you believe, all of them?
Click here to be taken to the full article.
The New 'MR Safe':
Language Changes For The FDA.
By Tobias Gilk
 For years the FDA has been struggling with a vocabulary problem. The current definition of ‘MR Safe’ is limited to objects not getting sucked into the bores of magnets. If a particular ladder, or pump, or wheelchair is determined safe for a 0.35 Tesla open MR, it isn’t necessarily safe in a 3.0 T MRI, or even a 1.5 T. And ‘MR safe’ may have been safe for certain gradients or sequences, but not others. And ‘MR Safe’ may have been deemed safe outside the 50-gauss line, but not inside it. In short, there is nothing definitive about an object being classified as ‘MR Safe’, which has led to tremendous confusion.
There’s nothing about the term ‘MR Safe’ that leads you to believe that there are conditions attached. That and the seemingly absoluteness of the term have led many to misuse the language. That’s all about to change...
Click here to be taken to the full article.
MRI Safety Return On Investment:
Low-Cost, High-Return Suite Audits.
By Tobias Gilk
Most MRI facilities are well aware of the operational aspects of MR safety that pertain to clinical practice and patient care activities. Filling out a longer screening form, keeping techs current on their C.E.'s, these help address safety issues, and do so without additional costs. But for some, when it comes to investing in MR Safe equipment, access controls, or changing rooms to gown patients, the MBA-side of the brain takes over. They want to know what 'return on investment' they can expect to see from these investments. Their skeptical nature assumes that money spent on safety would be better piled up and lit on fire, where at least you could roast a marshmallow or two. But there is mounting evidence to support the long-held contention that safety really does pay!
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
Over the coming months we will be sharing articles with you on a number of topics, from tools that are immediately applicable, to strategies that will help your facility on into the future. Several planned upcoming articles include:
- Problems with MRI Vendor Templates
- Hitting The Ceiling Over HIPAA-Required Walls
- Hyperthermia: Another Interventional Application
- Access Control Devices: Keeping Zone III Secure
- Double Down: Raising The Stakes Of MRI Safety
As always, please feel free to contact us if there's ever a subject you would like us to explore in the newsletter.
We Love Hearing From You!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments on the articles or issues you'd like to see covered.
Junk Architects, PC
802 Broadway - 5th Floor
Kansas City, MO 64105
816-472-7722
MR_Expert@JunkArchitects.com
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