Information for patients
If you are a patient reading this and have a concern about an MRI scan you are scheduled to attend, we strongly recommend you contact the site where your scan is due to take place, you may also wish to refer to our ‘Information for Patients’ section. Please note local variations to the policies detailed on this website may apply, therefore please contact the hospital where your appointment is scheduled for clarification.
Disclaimer (MUST READ)
The MRI safety information contained within this webpage is intended for use by staff from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) and associated health boards, namely: NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Golden Jubilee, and NHS Lanarkshire. Only staff from these health boards are approved to use this information and local variations to the policies detailed may apply. Non-approved users i.e. patients and staff from health boards other than those listed above, or staff from private medical organisations use this information at their own risk. We, NHS GGC, accept no responsibility for patient injury or adverse outcomes that may occur as a consequence of the information contained herein. If you have any questions regarding this disclaimer, please contact the NHS GGC MRI physics team on: ggc.MRSafetyExpert@nhs.scot.
MRI Safety policy for patients with Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUD’s)
Must read: What this policy does not cover / notable exceptions
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) which are used for some other purpose than contraception.
Must read: What the policy covers
The policy only applies to 1.5T and 3T MRI of patients with Intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) for the purposes of contraception
Must read: The MR safety policy
Please refer to the workflow below to enable a decision about whether or not to proceed with the MRI scan. Briefly, modern IUDs are typically MR Safe/Conditional and can be safely scanned. In the past in China and Japan there has been instances of MR Unsafe devices which should not be scanned.
The detailed review and risk assessment for this topic can be found here:
IUD detailed MRI safety review and risk assessment
Additional background information and discussion
See the following links on MRI safety of …