# MRI safety screening for implants, devices and medicine patches

Source: https://onco.cc/protocols/mri-safety-screening-implants/  
OnCo record `mri-safety-screening-implants` (Protocol). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

An MRI scanner is a very strong magnet, so before every scan you will be asked about any implant, device, patch or metal in or on your body, even if you have had MRI before. Bring any implant card. Many implants, including most ports, can be scanned safely under set conditions, but the team needs to know the exact device. Tell the radiographer at once if you feel warmth or tingling.

## Summary

MHRA guidance version 5.0 (2026) recommends four screening stages: targeted MRI questions on the referral (the referrer must identify implants and contraindications), questions at booking, a full screening form reviewed with the patient by an MR Authorised Person on arrival, and visual and verbal screening just before entering the magnet room; screening is repeated at every visit and completed before any sedation. Implant make and model should be in the operation notes and on an implant card, and the information should reach the unit before the appointment. Sites should have generic implant safety procedures for low-risk passive implants that do not need make and model, and otherwise identify the device and follow the manufacturer's MR Conditional terms. Where a condition cannot be met, the device is MR Unsafe, unlabelled or unknown, scanning may still proceed if benefit outweighs risk, after a documented multidisciplinary risk assessment (MR radiographer, MR safety expert, MR clinician, and a specialist such as a cardiologist for cardiac devices) with precautions and post-scan checks. Medicine patches with metal can burn, and heated fentanyl patches can cause overdose, so sites need a process for removing and replacing them. Patients with tattoos or permanent make-up report warmth at once. Burns can occur without immediate pain and are reported to the MHRA. Advice about specific devices is left to manufacturers and professional bodies (for cardiac devices, the Joint British Societies' recommendations, which were not read here).

## Fields

- Kind: Protocol
- Last checked: 2026-11-11
- Also known as: MRI safety checklist; MRI screening form; MRI with a port; MRI with a pacemaker; MR conditional implant; MRI and fentanyl patch; metal and MRI; MRI implant card

## Connected records

- technologies: [Implanted ports for chemotherapy (port-a-cath, power-injectable, apheresis and intraperitoneal ports)](https://onco.cc/technologies/implanted-ports/), [MRI](https://onco.cc/technologies/mri/)
- drugs: [Fentanyl (transmucosal, for breakthrough cancer pain)](https://onco.cc/drugs/fentanyl/)
- protocols: [Gadolinium contrast for MRI in kidney impairment: NSF risk by agent group](https://onco.cc/protocols/gadolinium-contrast-kidney-impairment/), [Radiotherapy with a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator](https://onco.cc/protocols/radiotherapy-with-pacemaker-or-defibrillator/)

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