S2E4 – MRI Safety and the Built Environment

Introduction

After listening to this episode, you’ll understand why guest Tobias (Toby) Gilk says, “The physics associated with MRI scanners is so otherworldly and so profoundly different from our daily experience interacting with the world that everything seems magic associated with this particular imaging modality.” The profound differences with MRI don’t stop with just the physics; there are a host of built environment considerations for the spaces that house MRIs as well as operational implications for patient and staff safety. Toby gives a quick lesson on how MRIs work, shares a story of how tragedy led to codified safety measures, and answers John and Bridget’s questions about the whys behind the codes.  

About Tobias Gilk 

Tobias (Toby) Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, specializes in radiology/medical imaging design, consulting, safety, and risk management as senior vice president at RADIOLOGY-Planning, a division of JUNK Architects. Toby earned his M. Arch from the University of Kansas in 1997 and has spent essentially his entire architecture career in health care, particularly radiology/nuclear medicine, “with a specific fondness for MRI.” Toby is a founding board member and past chair of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS) and twice served on the American College of Radiology’s (ACR) MRI Safety Committee, co-authoring three of that group’s MRI safety publications. Toby is one of the founding partners of CAIREreporting.org, an MRI-specific, identity-protected, adverse event reporting platform, and the founder of Gilk Radiology Consultants, providing training and consulting services for radiology practices and device manufacturers. Toby currently serves as chair of the Remote Scanning Quality & Safety (RSQS) Council and serves as a member of FGI’s Health Guidelines Revision Committee.

 

Acronyms Mentioned 

FGI: Facility Guidelines Institute 

MRI: magnetic resonance imaging 

ICU: intensive care unit 

CFO: chief financial officer 

CT: computed tomography 

ACR: American College of Radiology 

RF: radiofrequency 

PET: positron emission tomography 

HVAC: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning 

 

Mentioned in this episode

Health Guidelines Revision Committee 

Isadore Rabi 

spectroscopy 

MRI machine 

MRI scanner room 

CT scan 

X-ray 

PET scan 

linear accelerator 

magnetic fields 

tesla 

Michael Colombini 

ACR 4-Zone Strategy for MRI Safety 

5 gauss 

9 gauss 

radioisotope 

pacemakers 

Guidelines 

quench pipe 

 

AIA self-reporting LUs

Facility Guidelines Institute is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number 38744124. All registered AIA CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider or this learning program may be sent to AIA CES ([email protected]). 

This learning program may be self-reported for LU credit through the AIA Continuing Education System. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA. 

To receive AIA self-reported LUs, learners must complete and self-report two of these entire learning programs for 1 LU. 

 

Sponsored by

American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE): Optimizing health care facilities

 

 

 

Transcript (download transcript)