A Warming Sensation

The last two devices were the older General Electric.  The machine before that was manufactured by Siemens - München, Germany.  And before that it was the same Siemens device.  The first was the General Electric.  They’re all equally loud yet hands-down the German tool has a few more inches of space and is better suited to a catnap during the forty-five minute procedure.  If you ask for headphones I recommend the Lyle Lovett mix on the Pandora channel.  It helps with the short snooze.  Along the way I learned that the warming sensation one feels is caused by agitation of protons in the body's cells due to the electromagnetic field. 

Magnetic resonance procedures have been utilized in clinical settings for more than three decades.   Increasing magnetic field strengths and more powerful radiofrequency coils have resulted in new safety issues for this technology.  One of the safety concerns is tissue heating.  Radiofrequency power and the electromagnetic field in magnetic resonance imaging can induce heat within a patient’s tissues due to resistive losses and the thermogenic qualities from the electromagnetic field.  During MR procedures, the majority of the RF power transmitted for imaging is transformed into heat within the patient’s tissue.  The body’s response to MR procedure related heating is variable and depends on many factors.  Medications, disease states affecting thermoregulatory control, weight, and age all play a role.  I would describe it as an odd warming sensation.  You can learn more about benefits, risks and the warming phenomenon here.

And as for image results - so far so good.