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MRI

Richard Masters

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Richard Masters
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Dec 27, 2007
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I somewhat recently had a brain MRI, and although there were no abnormalities, I'd like a copy of the scan, for educational and entertainment purposes (how cool is it to show my brain to other people?). Is the clinic that scanned me required to send me a copy upon request? How large would such a file be? What software would I need to view a cross-section, or better yet, to map in 3D?

If there are any radiologists or neurologists present in the forums, I'd love to get your response.
 
For what its worth I'm not a radiologist or rad tech but I was an xray nurse for many years. I worked in the MRI unit for a while too. Back then a patient could get a hard copy of the films from the physician, I think there was a charge for it. There was no way of getting patients a digital copy of the film. Things may have changed since then.
 
I have digital copies of a full (throat to thighs) thorax and abdominal CT and an endoscopy. The software to read the CT I found free online. The endoscopy was a video file so was plug and play...want to see my fundus?

I'm pretty sure the data would fit on a CD (as it did for the Full CT) even for an MRI. And as long as they recorded the digital data (the norm now) you should be able to get a copy.
 
liverleef said:
For what its worth I'm not a radiologist or rad tech but I was an xray nurse for many years. I worked in the MRI unit for a while too. Back then a patient could get a hard copy of the films from the physician, I think there was a charge for it. There was no way of getting patients a digital copy of the film. Things may have changed since then.
Click to expand...

What would it take to convince whoever is responsible for getting a digital copy? Are there any laws in the United States that require the health provider to release these records to a patient/client/customer?
 
cgallaga said:
I have digital copies of a full (throat to thighs) thorax and abdominal CT and an endoscopy. The software to read the CT I found free online. The endoscopy was a video file so was plug and play...want to see my fundus?

I'm pretty sure the data would fit on a CD (as it did for the Full CT) even for an MRI. And as long as they recorded the digital data (the norm now) you should be able to get a copy.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was pretty sure it would be impractical to store a brain MRI on film today, especially since it was originally recorded digitally. What software did you use to read the CT? :boxedin: I'm not sure about the fundus (depending on what kind it is), though another less personal organ might be interesting. :p
 
Richard Masters said:
I somewhat recently had a brain MRI, and although there were no abnormalities, I'd like a copy of the scan, for educational and entertainment purposes (how cool is it to show my brain to other people?). Is the clinic that scanned me required to send me a copy upon request?
Click to expand...

In the UK, patients have the right to view all of their records as much as they like, although they may have to book an appointment in advance. You do have the right to request copies, but will have to pay for them, with the prices being set by the hospital or local health authority rather than nationally. I assume the situation is similar in the US. Try writing to, or just phoning, the medical records department and ask what you would need to do to make an official request.

How large would such a file be? What software would I need to view a cross-section, or better yet, to map in 3D?
Click to expand...

It probably wouldn't be more than a couple of hundred megabytes at most, it would certainly fit on a CD. I don't know if there is a standard format, I would suspect that different MRIs made by different companies would use different data formats, so software for one might not work for others.
 
Richard Masters said:
What would it take to convince whoever is responsible for getting a digital copy? Are there any laws in the United States that require the health provider to release these records to a patient/client/customer?
Click to expand...


Why, yes there are. The laws say you're entitled to your records. There may be a small fee for making you a copy.

I have my son's CTs on CD and film. The computer file is some sort of proprietary medical imaging program that may be hard to get a copy of ... or it may be free on the internet, I have no idea.
 
I worked as a clerk in the radiological department at a not-for-profit hospital 6-7 years ago - back then, we did not store radiological scans digitally, but rather made cross-sectional prints that were stores in the patient's records. This has probably changed, though I would not be surprised if it hadn't. Of course, a dedicated MRI lab is generally better-funded.

Contact the MRI lab or the radiological department (not your physician or the attending physician - they're not the ones responsible for record-keeping) and ask for a copy for your records. They'll want you to pay some fee for the time and materials it takes to make such a copy. I can't imagine why they'd turn you down.
 
sthomson said:
I worked as a clerk in the radiological department at a not-for-profit hospital 6-7 years ago - back then, we did not store radiological scans digitally, but rather made cross-sectional prints that were stores in the patient's records. This has probably changed, though I would not be surprised if it hadn't. Of course, a dedicated MRI lab is generally better-funded.
Click to expand...


I think that there's a good argument to be made that the minimum standard of care now requires digital recordkeeping. The world's changing fast.
 
I have a digital copy of a brain MRI I had done for a friend's research project. The MRI, and the software to view it in all its 3D glory, fit onto one CD, with room to spare.

Very fun to play with. :)
 
Yes, I work with MRI. You'd get all the data on one CD and you are perfectly entitled to take your own data away with you. You can also download free software from the web which would allow you to view it, although it might not be as exciting as you think! Personally i think simply asking for a print out from the radiographer is good enough.
 
Richard Masters said:
I somewhat recently had a brain MRI, and although there were no abnormalities, I'd like a copy of the scan, for educational and entertainment purposes (how cool is it to show my brain to other people?).
Click to expand...

If you get a copy, post a slice here. The closest I can get is a CT scan of my neck showing a rather large cyst (later removed). This came on a CD with viewing software.

 
I have a copy of a brain MRI I had done. They sent it to me on the good ol' printouts that doctors hang in front of the lighted whiteboards.

Of course I was in one of those old white tubes where you had to lie still for like half an hour.

They might have come a way since then.
 
Modified said:
If you get a copy, post a slice here. The closest I can get is a CT scan of my neck showing a rather large cyst (later removed). This came on a CD with viewing software.
Click to expand...

Well, here's mine.



This wasn't a diagnostic image -- it was one of the perks of volunteering as a guinea pig for a friend working in neurolinguistic research.

Is it just me, or does my cerebellum look a little odd?

ETA: This one took about 15 minutes to record. I then spent another hour in the white tube reading words and strings of random symbols off a screen. On a later day, I spent almost an hour and a half in there making silly noises in response to numbers flashed on a screen. Basic research is fun!
 
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