Don't forget to wear safety glasses.

[iwannadie]

I was in a motorcycle accident a few years back and have 2 plates and 9 screws in my hip(recently another screw in my foot). I had an MRI and they just put my foot into the machine, I was kinda worried about my hip hardware being that close but they said it was fine... How close does the metal have to be, like directly inside the machine or what?

 

[RichP]

I was in a motorcycle accident a few years back and have 2 plates and 9 screws in my hip(recently another screw in my foot). I had an MRI and they just put my foot into the machine, I was kinda worried about my hip hardware being that close but they said it was fine... How close does the metal have to be, like directly inside the machine or what?

I'm pretty sure it's all stainless, not an issue IIRC.

 

[tharlanjr]

Damn, I use my the cuttoff wheels on my dremel all the time. Guess I need to grab some safety glasses. Those little ones come apart EASY too...

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Surgical implant grade stainless steel is non magnetic. Otherwise anyone with piercings would set off metal detectors at the airport every time through

 

[kastein]

Yeah surgical stuff is usually high grade stainless (already covered) or titanium since titanium is bio-active and bone bonds well to it or something.

Basically if it is AT ALL ferromagnetic, it's going to be an issue and will rip itself out of you. If it's at all conductive (any metal) a significant eddy current will be induced in it by the electromagnets and it will be heated - I've made rings of copper so hot they melted into a glass plate using an ordinary microwave oven (few hundred watts), nevermind an MRI machine (tens to hundreds of kilowatts IIRC.)

 

[FlexdXJ]

Dremel comes out and I have safety glasses on! Good thing you did too!