this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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Today I got an MRI scan (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by toynbee@lemmy.world to c/dull_mens_club@lemmy.world
20 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Allegedly they have the "fastest MRI machine in the state, possibly the country" (according to the receptionist). (Apparently they have a 3T.) True to the receptionist's word, the technician promised the scan would take 7 minutes, but it only took 5.5.

I've had a bunch of tests in the office and they have all kinds of (what seems to me to be) very advanced technology in their basement. However ... Their elevator is ancient, slow, claustrophobic and a little scary. Riding it, one wouldn't anticipate the technology one encounters after.

Anyway, I think it's pretty funny that they have a sign - mounted at adult eye level - seemingly to provide instructions for someone who's never ridden an elevator before.

edit: Replaced photo with one with identifying info censored.

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[–] safesyrup@feddit.org 31 points 2 months ago (3 children)

MRI machines are crazy fascinating. They create a 3d model of ehatever limb you put in the tube by measuring in which way hydrogen atoms spin when under the influence of massive magnetic fields. Then do some math to represent that data as an image.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 months ago (3 children)

And have liquid Helium to cool the magnet coils so they become superconducting. Liquid helium is at 4 Kelvin!

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Or to put it into other words - unless these machines are incredibly cool, the electricity running through the magnets will start to heat up the magnets, causing their resistance to increase, causing them to heat up even further... eventually causing them to become incredibly hot if you're lucky, or explode if you're unlucky.

Now, I've never caused an MRI magnet to quench. But it's just as scary when it happens in a cryostat. :<

[–] LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Before you people are scared to use a MRI now: I can not imagine that they don't have multiple safeties in place to avoid explosion. I've never worked on cryo stuff, but from regularly cooled big machines, there are always redundant measures to avoid the big boom, and where there aren't, you can identify them by the scary sign and the heavy breathing of the safety officer. And that is for internal stuff, patient/customer facing things are probably treated even more carefully

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Oh yeah, sorry, didn't mean to scare people! Even if it catastrophically explodes, there's zero chance anything can happen to you. There's so much stuff between you and the magnet that even the worst case will just damage the machine.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

In the event of a quench, there's no explosion. Just a venting of the (now) gaseous helium. Still don't want to be in it during, not no actual explosion.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The good news is, there's no way for these machines to not be incredibly cool.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh, is that ensured mechanically? That's really cool, do you have any links or similar? I always love learning about this kinda stuff!

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I was making a joke about the two main meanings of cool.

MRI machines are really cool, like they're neat. I'm sure they can heat up, but their design is still pretty awesome.

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 months ago

Taking a cramped antique elevator with strange signs down into a basement with equipment holding mindboggling technology used to scan your body has a real cyberpunk vibe.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

They also use liquid nitrogen to help keep the liquid helium cold. Mainly because liquid helium is expensive and a finite resource. So the nitrogen is "topped up" much more frequently than the helium.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Pretty much. But more specifically the rate at which protons relax after the applied magnetic field. It can also be used for different molecules (13C, 19F, 31P, and others), but I think that's more for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) which is the same thing, but used to identify chemical structures, and not body scans.

[–] pedz@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 months ago

Some of the adults that have lived in my tower for many years also don't seem to know, or learn, how the elevators work.

They're going down but push both buttons, making people going up stop at their floor for no reason.

They're going up but the elevator is going down, they get in anyway and can't select higher floors until it goes to the basement.

Although some old elevators can be confusing. An old building where I lived had an elevator with hinged doors that you had to pull, then a metal accordion gate that you had to slide. Once the floor was selected an arm would push the gate shut and hold it until destination was reached, then release it. You still had to pull the gate manually then push the door to exit. Friends made jokes about the Titanic era elevator when they visited that place.

Anyway as a city dweller I find them ordinary but I have to remind myself that some people don't encounter them very often.

The one from the picture seems simple enough but if there's a sign, someone got tired of explaining it.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm confused. Why did you take a picture of the elevator?

[–] LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's an uplifting image

[–] msage@programming.dev 3 points 2 months ago

Fuck you, and I'll see you tomorrow.