What is MRI? Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most advanced medical imaging methods of our time, which was only officially introduced in the early 1980s. MRI is a special test that uses a magnetic field and radiofrequency pulses. Simply put, MRI is a technique that uses magnetic fields to “take pictures” of various parts of a person’s body through magnetic resonance equipment to check for structural abnormalities and lesions. MRI can be used to examine the central nervous system, the five senses, the chest, the abdomen, and the musculoskeletal system. For patients with epilepsy, MRI is often done on the brain. What can be examined by MRI? MRI can be used to examine a variety of suspected structural brain injuries and lesions such as intracerebral vascular lesions, cranial tumors, spinal cord lesions, intracranial infections, degenerative brain changes, congenital malformations of the brain, and cranial trauma. MRI is mostly used to find the cause of epilepsy, which means that MRI films can help doctors determine what causes the seizures. Can MRI affect my health? What are the contraindications? MRI is safe and harmless. It is a non-invasive technique, and there is no X-ray radiation damage. The same patient can be repeated several times without worrying about the health effects. Even young children can undergo MRI if they are cooperative. Since MRI uses a strong magnetic field for examination, the position of metallic foreign objects may be moved during use due to the attraction of the magnet. Therefore, patients with pacemakers, artificial heart valves, artificial corneas, post-vascular surgery metal clips, tracheal intubation, contraceptive rings, metallic foreign objects, and artificial joints should check with their doctors to confirm whether they can undergo this examination. Patients with pacemakers are absolutely contraindicated. Interference can lead to cardiac arrest. Metal in the body, such as prostheses, shrapnel, hemostatic clips, artificial heart valves, fixed plates, screws, artificial femoral heads, etc., should not be examined because the movement of metal foreign bodies may damage important organs and large blood vessels. In addition, MRI is very sensitive to the movement of the patient’s body and is prone to artifacts, so it is not suitable for the examination of emergency and critically ill patients. How is an MRI of a metal object carried with you before entering the scanning room? No special preparation is required for the MRI of the head, and you can eat and drink normally before the examination. Usually, the technologist will bring the patient to the examination room and have the patient lie flat on the examination bed with the scanning probe placed around the head. The technologist will then leave the examination room and enter the operating room. The patient will be able to keep in touch with the operator during the examination and should be relaxed during the examination. Once the machine is running, the patient will hear some sound, usually for a few minutes, as the machine acquires images. You should try to keep your head still during the entire process to avoid ghosting that can affect the image quality. It takes about 30 minutes to complete an MRI. When it is over, the technologist will return to the patient and help the patient leave the examination room. What is the cost of an MRI? MRI equipment and examinations are expensive and are by far the more expensive of the imaging tests, second only to PET and more expensive compared to CT. The cost of this test may vary from hospital to hospital, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the MRI specifications used by the hospital, the higher the specifications, the clearer the images, and the more expensive they are. The epilepsy center of Tangdu Hospital suggests that epilepsy is a chronic disease of the brain, and most of them are expected to be cured after regular treatment. Epilepsy should be diagnosed early when found.