MEDICAL Services
-Screening and Pre-registration
DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING
If you are scheduled to have a MRCP (a special MRI of the bile ducts) you must fast for 6 hours prior to the exam. This means nothing to eat or drink.
If anesthesia is necessary, the anesthesia department in advance of the appointment provides specific dietary restrictions. For all other examinations you may eat or drink as usual.
Screening and Pre-registration
It is recommended to pre-register prior to your appointment. This is a simple procedure in which your current information is updated such as insurance, address etc. Click here to complete your pre-registration paperwork, or call 603-663-5663. If you are pre-registered, you may come directly to the MRI Department at your scheduled time. If you are not pre-registered, you need to go to the Admissions Department and register before your appointment in MRI.
The MRI patient coordinator will attempt to call you prior to your appointment. This is not the same as pre-registration. The purpose of this call is to ask a few screening questions to make sure you are a candidate for the exam. Certain implants are not safe in a magnetic environment. This phone call is also provided to answer any questions you may have about the MRI exam. The phone number is (603) 663-4141.
Please wear clothes without any metal zippers, hooks or snaps. These objects can cause a bright or blank spot on the picture. Do not wear hairclips or hairpins. Leave your jewelry at home. If this is not possible, a personal locker will be provided for you. If your MRI is of your head, do not wear eye makeup. Do not bring credit cards, keys or coins into the MRI exam room.
There are many metal implants that are perfectly safe in the MRI environment and MRI poses no known risk to most patients if appropriate safety guidelines are followed. However, for some patients, MRI may be inadvisable. It is very important that you communicate all your implant information when the MRI patient coordinator or technologist screens you.
If you have a cardiac pacemaker or internal defibrillator, your MRI will be cancelled. These implants are affected by the magnetic field used in a MRI exam. Hearing aids must be removed before entering the exam room. The magnet will cause damage to hearing aids.
Please let the MRI patient coordinator or technologist know if you have:
- Cardiac Pacemaker/ defibrillator
- Aneurysm clips
- Metal plates, pins, or other metallic implants
- Shrapnel from a gunshot wound
- Ever been a metal worker
- Permanent tattoo eyeliner
- Cochlea implant
- TENS unit (dorsal column stimulator)
Also, be sure to tell us if you are pregnant.
After the MRI exam, you are free to resume your normal daily activities. Soon after the completion of the test, a radiologist will do a careful analysis of all the images. The results will be reported to your personal physician. Your physician will discuss these results with you.
