 Spring is approaching and the thoughts of facility planners turn to the approaching construction season. The months ahead will see a large push of building activity, capitalizing on the more favorable summer weather, and hospitals and imaging centers are anxiously awaiting their planned equipment.
But before the concrete is poured and the building erected, it is vital that operators of MRI facilities make sure that the appropriate life safety features have been integrated into the faciility design. Many features have minimal or zero cost impacts, but can be bungled easily.
This month we're featuring the second of a two-part article on cryogen safety designs. This is just one of many components of MRI suite design that have a large impact on patient and staff safety, yet are too often designed and built incorrectly.
And as a follow-up to last month's article on quench entrapment, we have a piece which addresses a concern expressed by Dr. Emanuel Kanal, FACR, about outward swinging magnet room doors when used as the only means of pressure relief.
For cryogen safety, or for any other aspect of MRI suite design and construction, it is always easier and less expensive to address issues before they are built incorrectly. If you have any doubts about the way your imaging project is being developed, seek out expert advice as early as you can.
As always, we hope that you will contact us if you have any questions about anything you read in the newsletter, or if we can be of any assistance to you.
Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA
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
Mark Your Calendars Three Times! So far we've been invited to present to the annual meetings of three groups in 2006, the Society for Magnetic Resonance Technologists, the American Society of Radiologic Technolgists at the 14th World Congress, and two presentations for the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators. Mark your calendars to join us in Seattle in May, then again in Denver in June and again in Las Vegas in August!
Click below to be taken to
www.ismrm.org/smrt (annual meeting page)
www.asrt.org (World Congress page)
www.ahraonline.org (conferences page)
Watch For 'The Handbook'. Coming out later this year will be the "Handbook on MRI Suite Design" which will consolodate much of the wisdom from the MRI Newsletter and infuse it with many of the latest thoughts on designing for the newest MRI technology, and put it all into a format to help guide any facility through equipment planning, purchase, design, installation or renovation. This will be the 'must have' book for anyone looking at new MRI equipment or expanded radiology facilities.
MRI Newsletter - Article Archive Is Now On Line!
Don't forget that we now have the archive of previous MRI Newsletter articles available. Click here to see all the articles that are available.
While the archive index is available to everyone, only subscribers will be able to access the full text of the articles, except the published public issues.
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MRI Suite Cryogen Safety, Part II:
Quench Pipe Safety.
By Robert Junk, AIA, AHRA and Tobias Gilk
Last month’s cryogen safety feature focused on the chances of helium escaping into the magnet room and the risks of entrapment and asphyxiation and most importantly, what can be done in the design of a magnet room to mitigate these risks. This month’s feature provides you with the information to better avoid the entire risks of quench breaches into the magnet room by verifying the cryogen vent (quench pipe) assembly is up to the task.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Magnet Room Doors And Quench Entrapment.
By Tobias Gilk
Dr. Emanuel Kanal, chair of the ACR’s authoring committee for the White Paper on MR Safety, has taken issue with our recommendation for the magnet room door to swing out. He pointed out an important safety concern that is introduced by swinging the door out, and he is right. But then, so are we…
Click here to be taken to the full article.
MRI Suites And Acoustics.
By Tobias Gilk
As MRI magnets and gradients have gotten more an more powerful, the sound pressure levels generated by the scans have as well. Not only is this an issue for patients who are complaining of pain and hearing damage after having received a scan, but also for functions outside the MRI suite where the regular dance beat ‘whump – whump – whump’ of slamming gradients may not be welcome.
While many MRI manufacturers acknowledge that it can get loud inside the bore and recommend hearing protection, just how loud has been a subject of debate. Many vendors release only their average sound pressure level, taking into account the loudest sequences and the softest ones. But if you stick your head in the freezer and your feet in the oven you will be, on average, at a comfortable temperature. It’s the extremes we’re worried about and, unfortunately, the averages tell us very little that is useful.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
In the upcoming 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:
- MRI Accident Data: What Every Facility Should Know
- Access Control Devices: Keeping Zone III Secure
- Magnet Room Finishes & Equipment
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 54105
816-472-7722
MRI_Expert@MRI-Planning.com
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