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Can I have an MRI scan if I have a pacemaker?
Modern cardiac pacemakers are now designed to be MRI-safe, but Dr Charlotte Manisty explains that some clinics and hospitals may still be unable to carry out the scans
Transcript
Historically, some of the older pacemakers were deemed not to be safe within an MRI scanning environment and that the magnetic field within the MRI would interact with the pacemaker. More recently, devices have been designed specifically that are safe to go within an MRI scan machine and therefore, we are scanning more and more patients with pacemakers. Unfortunately, one of the problems that we hear from patients is that when they go to have their MRI scan, they're told that they can't go into the MRI scanner because they've got a pacemaker, even though their device has been designed and tested to be safe within an MRI scanning environment. What we aim to do is to provide scans for patients of any part of their body, who have a pacemaker in place, in a safe and structured monitored environment.