Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a type of scan that uses magnetic waves to produce very detailed images of the body. It is a painless and safe procedure and helps to diagnose illnesses. This helps doctors to treat disease earlier and more effectively. It is an unparalleled test for many brain and spinal diseases, joint problems, and to make cancer diagnoses.
50-75% of pacemaker patients will need an MRI in their lifetime2 and it is the fastest growing imaging technique5. Older pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators (also known as ‘legacy’ devices) were not designed to undergo MRI scanning and so this meant doctors had to find alternatives. Because this often meant more invasive tests, delayed diagnosis and missing out on the best treatments, newer devices were designed so that they could undergo MRI scanning. These are called ‘MRI-conditional’ devices (more detail here).
In the NHS, we spend over £100 millions a year on this new technology that is MRI-conditional. Yet despite this technology, over half of hospitals do not even offer this service4, and we still need to increase provision 50 times to match demand.
This means we are not fulfilling our obligation to achieve accessible care for over 3 million people worldwide with pacemakers and defibrillators6,16.
“50-75% of patients will need an MRI in their lifetime”