MRI Scanner Disarms Cop, Fires His Weapon

[Ben]

Okay then.

http://bearingarms.com/rise-machines-mri-scanner-disarms-officer-fires-weapon/

[MillCreek]

Jeezy Petes, I am taking that article into Radiology tomorrow and asking them what their policy is.  There was a famous case years ago where a child was killed by an oxygen bottle flying into the bore when the magnet was turned on.  The bottle struck the child in the head and killed him.

[Boomhauer]

That's a rather old story, back from 2002.

And yeah MRI magnets are rediculously strong.

[BobR]

That's a rather old story, back from 2002.

Yea, but he is retired now so he can get caught up on the news!!!      



bob

[RoadKingLarry]

Yea, but he is retired now so he can get caught up on the news!!!      



bob

At the rate he's going he'll never make it.

[Monkeyleg]

At the rate he's going he'll never make it.

Well, he's gotten all the way from his childhood in 1925 to 2002 relatively fast.

[MechAg94]

Someone told him Glocks were all plastic and invisible to metal detectors so he didn't think it would be an issue.   

[Ben]

Funny boys.

[zahc]

Was it a series 70?

[Boomhauer]

Was it a series 70?

The 1991 is a Series 80.

[Perd Hapley]

The 1991 is a Series 80.

Yurp. In the article, it is surmised that the firing pin block was pulled out of the way by the magnet.

[French G.]

I went in with my kid and the protocol was pretty strict. They let her take her bear to hold but gave it the TSA treatment. I ditched my considerable pocket load in the provided locker. Only thing in my pocket was that key on a single steel clip. Couple of grams, felt like it was producing at least .5 lb of pull. It would move my hand in my pocket if I relaxed. Kept my hand on it the whole time lest the key escape. The day before a senior neurosurgeon had wheeled the wrong stretcher in. Complete shutdown, loss of all the liquid He of course, magnet out of commission for a few days.

[brimic]

Yeah, we aren't allowed to bring anything magnetic near our NMR machine.
If so much as a paperclip gets sucked into it, it could take the machine out of service for weeks. The magnet would need to be quenched, the helium vented off, and a technician flown in to recharge the magnet and get it started again.
Last I checked, there's a global helium shortage, so even if we cold get enough helium to get it restarted, the overall bill would be in the high 5 figures.

[Monkeyleg]

I had to photograph a GE Medical Systems MRI in my studio years back. I had triple-phase 220, which they liked. They had to bring in a tech to disconnect the magnet, though, or they said it would have pulled in nearly every piece of equipment in the studio.

[Firethorn]

Last I checked, there's a global helium shortage, so even if we cold get enough helium to get it restarted, the overall bill would be in the high 5 figures.

Don't we have superconductors that work with liquid nitrogen now?  Is there any effort to put those superconductors into an MRI so that you don't need the helium?

[Strings]

Seem to recall a test done in England, where a lead bullet tied on a string was actually pulled by an MRI...

[brimic]

Don't we have superconductors that work with liquid nitrogen now?  Is there any effort to put those superconductors into an MRI so that you don't need the helium?

The nmr we use has an outer jacket of liquid N2, which we recharge ourselves on a weekly basis.

[AJ Dual]

Seem to recall a test done in England, where a lead bullet tied on a string was actually pulled by an MRI...

Yes, even non-ferrous stuff will respond. The magnetic field is strong enough to induce currents in almost anything conductive, and then the currents respond with their own magnetic fields.

[K Frame]

I THINK that this happened a couple of years ago. I seem to recall it being discussed at length at TFL.

[Firethorn]

The nmr we use has an outer jacket of liquid N2, which we recharge ourselves on a weekly basis.

As I understand it, this is being used to insulate the helium, rather than being used to insulate the magnetics directly.

On another note though, I just remembered seeing that it's not just the magnets that are being cooled - the sensors are being cooled as well, as you get less 'noise' when they're super-cold as well.  Has the effect of increasing resolution.  Still, most of the helium used is for cooling magnets, just cooling the sensor would be a much smaller task.

[Tallpine]

How long will it take to fix?
               
I got to find what's wrong first.  Could be the liquid helium or the superconductors.

[MechAg94]

As I understand it, this is being used to insulate the helium, rather than being used to insulate the magnetics directly.

On another note though, I just remembered seeing that it's not just the magnets that are being cooled - the sensors are being cooled as well, as you get less 'noise' when they're super-cold as well.  Has the effect of increasing resolution.  Still, most of the helium used is for cooling magnets, just cooling the sensor would be a much smaller task.

We have a pair of gas analyzes at work that have to have Liquid N2.  FTIR.  Forget what it stands for.

[mangle]

We have a pair of gas analyzes at work that have to have Liquid N2.  FTIR.  Forget what it stands for.

Fourier Transform InfraRed spectrometer?  Also useful to identify plastics.

[AmbulanceDriver]

How long will it take to fix?
              
I got to find what's wrong first.  Could be the liquid helium or the superconductors.

Wrong kind of caterpillar drive, but hey, at least you get to see Montana.

[Tallpine]

Wrong kind of caterpillar drive, but hey, at least you get to see Montana.

Yeah, but if an MRI can suck in all that metal stuff, couldn't you use it to repel itself from some big metallic object (like maybe the earth's core) ?