Before Your MRI: Implants, Devices, and What to Bring

Bring Your Implant Card

If you have an implant card for a device, bring it to your exam. It helps the doctor or MRI technologist identify exactly what you have. Some pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators, cochlear implants, and medication pumps can be scanned, but only if the team knows the exact type and follows special procedures for it.

Tip If you cannot find the card, ask the clinic that placed or follows the device for the manufacturer and model numbers. Do this before the day of the scan.

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Tell the Team About These

Mention any of the following on the screening form and to the technologist, even if you think it does not matter.

• Pacemakers or implantable defibrillators (ICDs)
• Neurostimulators, such as spinal cord or vagus nerve stimulators
• Cochlear implants
• Medication pumps, implanted or worn, such as insulin pumps
• Clips placed on blood vessels, and stents
• Joint replacements, plates, pins, or screws
• Bullets, shrapnel, or other metal fragments, especially anything in or near the eye

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Answer the Screening Form Carefully

Before the exam you will usually fill out a screening questionnaire. The FDA calls answering it accurately "extremely important." If you are unsure about an answer, say so rather than guess.

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Remove Metal and Electronics

The magnet can pull on some metals, and some items can heat up or be damaged. Before entering the scanner room, remove:

• External hearing aids, watches, and jewelry
• Phones, tablets, wallets, and cards with magnetic strips
• Hair clips and pins
• Clothing with metal threads, zippers, snaps, or underwire. Some athletic wear contains metal threads that can heat up and burn.
• Makeup or nail polish that may contain metal, if the team asks

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Also Let the Team Know

• If you have tattoos, especially new ones
• If you are pregnant or might be, or if you are breastfeeding
• If you expect to feel anxious or closed in

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Questions You Can Ask

• What information will the MRI provide, and how might it change my treatment?
• Is there any reason I should not have an MRI?
• Will my exam use contrast, and why?
• Where is the call button if I need help?

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If the Clinic Says You Cannot Have the MRI

Ask why, and whether another test such as CT or ultrasound could answer the same question. Your doctor and the imaging team can explain the options.

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