I would have doubted the veracity but apparently its true.

 

Man wearing heavy metallic necklace dies after being sucked into MRI machine - BBC News https://share.google/uEiRjqbHtCwPCeRLP

Yep, I've read that in other online journals as well, and it makes sense. Small correction: he was just attracted towards the MRI, not sucked in. He wore a heavy metal chain, and the very strong magnetic field in an MRI can then generate large attractive forces.

I remember an experiment that was conducted about 20 years ago that used inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Nobody was allowed to be in the room while the experiment was running since the mechanical forces required to keep the machine from collapsing was equivalent to a 20 ton weight.

Absolutely tragic of course but I'm reminded of this cartoon 🙂

 

Makes you wonder why the door wasn't locked though...

2 hours ago, qqwertz said:

Small correction: he was just attracted towards the MRI, not sucked in.

 

Yep, i was just repeating the headline. All the reports are saying sucked because it makes for a better headline.

MRI's have superconducting magnets, I recall.

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

MRI's have superconducting magnets, I recall.

Yep, the fields are close to the strongest we can routinely create. Fun fact: an MRI machine is only turned on once and then stays powered for its entire useful life. It would be too costly and time-consuming to ramp up the fields again and calibrate the whole device after switching it off. 

48 minutes ago, qqwertz said:

Fun fact: an MRI machine is only turned on once and then stays powered for its entire useful life. It would be too costly and time-consuming to ramp up the fields again and calibrate the whole device after switching it off. 

 

Nope. They aren't always on for their entire life. They stay on during daily operation due to the time required to stabilize the field, but they can be turned off, especially for regular maintenance. 

My fun fact re superconductors... once energized, the power can be cut off and the filed can persist. The current can flow indefinitely without resistance. 

This may be TMI, but I was always worried my vasectomy clips would be attracted to the magnet.  Nobody wants that part of their anatomy stuck to the MRI machine.  BTW, I've had several MRIs and I'm still intact.😉

From the "News 12 Long Island" link:

Quote

Jones-McAllister said he suffered several heart attacks following the incident and later died.

Hook

1 hour ago, tdflightsim said:

This may be TMI, but I was always worried my vasectomy clips would be attracted to the magnet.  Nobody wants that part of their anatomy stuck to the MRI machine.  BTW, I've had several MRIs and I'm still intact.😉

I get an MRI once a year.  The doctor is keeping track of a very small, benign cyst on my pancrease.  No bog thing
since the only metal in me is one gold bridge and several gold crowns.  They ain't been sucked out yet!

Was that guy going to have an MRI or was he in the room  when he wasn't suppose to be?

I'm having an MRI on my hand soon. In preparation I had an X-ray on my head to make sure that there are not any metal fragments in my eye's due to my occasional use of an angle grinder cutting steel. My GP said if there is a thin fragment of steel in there that machine will pull it right through you eye ball!🤣

31 minutes ago, charliearon said:

Was that guy going to have an MRI or was he in the room  when he wasn't suppose to be?

His wife was having an MRI on her knee.  She asked the tech to get her husband to help her get up afterwards.

When I first saw that headline I thought it was from the Babylon Bee.

I won't be having any more MRIs due to having a pacemaker/defibrillator.

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Edited July 21, 2025Jul 21 by LHookins

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Nope. They aren't always on for their entire life. They stay on during daily operation due to the time required to stabilize the field, but they can be turned off, especially for regular maintenance. 

My fun fact re superconductors... once energized, the power can be cut off and the filed can persist. The current can flow indefinitely without resistance. 

You are right, I forgot about maintenance 🙂

And yes, superconductors are amazing. 

 

 

33 minutes ago, FBW737 said:

I'm having an MRI on my hand soon. In preparation I had an X-ray on my head to make sure that there are not any metal fragments in my eye's due to my occasional use of an angle grinder cutting steel. My GP said if there is a thin fragment of steel in there that machine will pull it right through you eye ball!🤣

Yes, an MRI is a BIG no-no for you.  I can empathize with the hand pain if that's what you having.  I've had profound right hand pain for 8 months now, insidious onset.  MRI showed diffuse swelling and tendonitis throughout the hand.  Hand surgeon and rheumatologist can't figure out what's going on.  Good luck to you.

I remember in the earliest days of the MRI machines, they were so fiendishly expensive that hospitals didn't have them.  The city would have one or more mounted in 18 wheeler trailers.  The procedure was fiendishly expensive as well, but if you were willing to get it done at 3 AM you could get a discount. 😄  They may not have been covered by insurance back then.

These days, since I can't have an MRI, they use ultrasound or CAT scans.  

I've got multiple cardiac stents, and have had a bypass operation where they left in the wires used to hold my sternum closed.  No problems with MRI at the time.  The pacemaker/defibrillator with three leads going into my heart would likely get burned out in an MRI, according to my doctors.

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13 minutes ago, tdflightsim said:

diffuse swelling and tendonitis throughout the hand

Do anti-inflammatories help?  Aleve is the best, but some doctors will start Kermit-flailing if you even mention the name.

My pharmacist was all too happy to sell me Naproxen at $1 per pill (and I had to take 2x500 mg per day for ankylosing spondylitis) but when it went generic Aleve at 10 cents a pill he told me "It's the worst stuff you can take."  Later my rheumatologist used the same words, "It's the worst stuff you can take" a few years later.  That sounds more like marketing than medicine, but I limit it as much as possible.  No more 2x500 mg for me. 🙂  Yeah, my kidneys aren't in the best shape.

The rheumatologist even told me Aleve had no anti-inflammatory properties.  Excuse me??  "NSAID".  That was the last time I went to him.

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Edited July 21, 2025Jul 21 by LHookins