Sitting Mri Lumbar

An open upright mri scanner is an alternative for patients who are claustrophobic cannot lie down due to pain or whose size prevents them from being evaluated in a traditional mri scanner.

Sitting mri lumbar. Finally make sure to find out if you need to be sedated so that you can arrange a ride home. An mri scan provides a different kind of image from other imaging tests like x rays ultrasound or ct scans. The mri lumbar spine procedure is painless but with most mri machines you are in an enclosed space. The desire to increase comfort led to the development of mri machines that allow patients to stand or sit.

While these machines help with patient comfort they currently don t provide a good image quality. Standing or sitting mri comfort is a very important part of patient care. It does not include being scanned in multiple positions such as flexion bending forward extension bending backward lateral bending or rotation. Scans can also be obtained with lateral flexion of the lumbar spine this new stand up open mri is based on fonar s proven high field technology which means it delivers exceptional scanning speed and high resolution imaging the combination of the transaxial magnetic field and any of fonar s array of high signal to noise solenoidal surface.

Symptoms pain that radiates from your lower lumbar spine to your buttock and down the back of your leg is the hallmark of sciatica. You might feel the discomfort almost anywhere along the nerve pathway but it s especially likely to follow a path from your low back to your buttock and the back of your thigh and calf. In some instances a patient s condition may require them to lie down in a reclined position however this is rare. Diagnostic advantages the stand up mri with position imaging also known as the upright multi position mri is the only mri scanner that allows patients to be scanned in any position including standing sitting bending or lying down.

Hmca specializes in the management of diagnostic imaging centers equipped with the stand up mri. Please keep in mind that it may take longer if contrast is ordered. Static mri is defined by ucla as being scanned in one position sitting straight up. If you anticipate feeling nervous let your doctor know so that they can potentially prescribe an anti anxiety medication.

The lumbar mri will help them plan the procedure before making an incision. The exam itself will usually take between 25 45 minutes.