| Open Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Open MRI) is an | | | | and hear loud noises when the test is being performed. |
| advanced diagnostic imaging procedure that creates | | | | Open MRI machines are also called patient friendly |
| detailed images of internal bodily structures and organs | | | | machines as they help obese, elderly, claustrophobic |
| in an open machine instead of the tube shaped | | | | and pediatric patients to undergo the test comfortably |
| machine. These are machines that follow the same | | | | in the open design machines. Open MRI machines are |
| principle as traditional MRI machines but differ in design. | | | | also suitable for patients with posttraumatic stress |
| A conventional MRI machine is a large box shaped | | | | syndrome. As these machines have no confining |
| machine with an open-ended tunnel where the test is | | | | tunnel, they are not claustrophobic. These are quieter |
| performed. A patient is asked to lie on a comfortable | | | | and do not make those noisy sounds enabling the |
| padded table that slides inside the tunnel so that those | | | | patient to lay comfortably on a cushioned table for an |
| parts of the body that have to be scanned are inside | | | | extended period of time. Friends or close family |
| the tube or tunnel. The patients lie in closed area inside | | | | members are also allowed to sit with the patients |
| the machine. The tests take few minutes and loud, | | | | during an open MRI exam. A typical open MRI scam is |
| repetitive clanking and thumping noises are heard by | | | | performed in 30 to 60 seconds depending on the |
| the patients during the test as the scanning proceeds. | | | | procedure followed by the doctor. Some kinds of |
| Lot of people experience a claustrophobic sensation | | | | scanning that are not possible in closed MRI scanners |
| and anxiety because of the tunnel shaped machine | | | | can be performed in open MRI scanners. |