ASHFORD & ST. PETERS M.R.I UNIT

MRI means ‘magnetic resonance imaging’. It's an imaging technique using a strong magnetic field to produce high-quality pictures of soft tissue inside your body, for example muscles and ligaments. MRI has been used for over 20 years in the UK. There are no known serious side effects. You'll see a small team of radiography staff who'll care for you during your visit. One of the radiographers will carry out the examination. We may need to give you an injection to increase the amount of information we can get from the scan, depending on the area we're scanning.

We'll ask you some safety questions when you book your appointment over the 'phone, and you'll need to fill in a safety questionnaire that we'll send you with your appointment letter. Please remember to bring this with you to your appointment. Unless we let you know, you don't need to make any special preparations before your MRI scan and you can continue to eat and drink as normal and take any prescribed medicine. When you arrive please go to the reception desk (please bring your appointment letter which may have details of who to ask for). The radiographer or another member of staff will meet you and explain the procedure to you. We'll give you the chance to ask any questions.

We'll check your safety questionnaire once more (or ask you to fill one in if you haven’t already) and ask you to sign a consent form if necessary. The radiographer will check all questions with you before your scan. We may ask you to change or take some of your clothes off. In this instance, we may ask you to put on a hospital gown and you should put your clothes and personal belongings in the container we provide, which we'll keep safe for you. You'll be asked to lie down on the MRI bed and we'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible. The radiographer will move you into the middle of the scanner.