If you have a MRI done will it scan only one area of the body or the whole body how long does it take to get?

Question

can it be just a arm or leg or will it be the whole body that is scaned? Can pregnet woment get scaned? and does it show bones as well as soft tissue? Is it normat to take two scans back to back of the same person.

Answer 1

It can be a small area or your whole body. You program the computer the coordinates of the MRI machine that need scanning (better yet the tech guy does that).

MRI's can take a LONG time. If it's just a small area (like an arm or a leg), it can take 45 minutes, and a full body scan can take 3 hours. The patient can't move an inch or the image turns out blurry, so full body scans can be really annoying for the person (not to mention the claustophobia). CAT scans on the other hand do the job in just 5 minutes.

Pregnant women can get MRI's done because it's a giant magnet, there's no radiation.

MRI's aren't usually used unless for very specific things (tumors, vascular diseases on the spine). Emergency procedures like head injuries can be scanned better with CAT scans. I wouldn't say it's impossible they do do 2 MRI's before and after a tumors is removed.

It shows all tissues, but differently from CAT scans, it's hard to explain until you pass the Radiology course in Med school.