Delegates attend first European MRI safety course and certification

Around 200 radiologists, radiographers and medical physicists attended the first European MRI Safety Matters training seminar. The two-day event, held in London and sponsored by Canon Medical Systems UK, was a platform to call for greater collaboration between industry and healthcare, and for a standardised approach to MRI user and patient safety. It was delivered by the internationally renowned MRSO/MRMD safety luminary Dr Emanuel Kanal.

Topics covered during the event included: understanding static magnetic fields; time varying RF and gradient fields; focal power deposition; auditory concerns; neurostimulation; implant and foreign body safety assessments; and overall peer-to-peer best practice discussions on all aspects of MRI safety.

There was support from delegates to bring MRI safety standardisation and certification to Europe, with many delegates surprised that there is not a regulated minimum MRI safety standard nor standardised mandatory training already in place in the UK. The event was followed by UK relevant examinations leading to MR safety certification administered by the American Board of MR Safety. Radiographers, physicists and radiologists sat the examination and, if successful, will be the first UK MRI cohort to obtain an accreditation for MRI safety. These individuals are expected to influence and shape the safety culture of the UK MRI industry by embracing the certification.

Picture: Radiologists, radiographers and medical physicists attended the first European MRI Safety Matters training seminar.

Published on page 3 of the November 2019 issue of RAD Magazine.