Alliance Hospital is equipped with one of the latest high tech cutting-edge functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner, one of a very few in Nigeria. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the body uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed images of the inside of your body. It may be used to help diagnose or monitor treatment for a variety of conditions within the spine, brain, joints, chest, abdomen and pelvis. If you’re pregnant, body MRI may be used to safely monitor your baby.
The magnetic field is not harmful, but it may cause some medical devices to malfunction. Most orthopedic implants pose no risk, but you should always tell the technologist if you have any devices or metal in your body.
Unlike conventional x-ray examinations and computed tomography (CT) scans, MRI does not utilize ionizing radiation. Instead, radio waves redirect alignment of hydrogen atoms that naturally exist within the body while you are in the scanner without causing any chemical changes in the tissues. As the hydrogen atoms return to their usual alignment, they emit energy that varies according to the type of body tissue from which they come. The MR scanner captures this energy and creates a picture of the tissues scanned based on this information.
The magnetic field is produced by passing an electric current through wire coils in most MRI units. Other coils, located in the machine and in some cases, placed around the part of the body being imaged, send and receive radio waves, producing signals that are detected by the coils. The electric current does not come in contact with the patient.
A computer then processes the signals and generates a series of images, each of which shows a thin slice of the body. The images can then be studied from different angles by the interpreting radiologist.
Frequently, the differentiation of abnormal (diseased) tissue from normal tissues is better with MRI than with other imaging modalities such as x-ray, CT and ultrasound.
The presence of the MRI Scanner in our hospital offers patients several advantages of affordability, timely scans for, and reduction in long distance travel before, a definitive diagnosis and treatment recommendation of any ailment is made.