Carilion Clinic Crystal Spring MRI Suite

Carilion Clinic, a local community owned hospital in Southwest Virginia, required renovations to make room for their new MRI suite at their Crystal Springs location.

Metal studs do contain some iron which is magnetic, but since they are attached to the floor slab, and each wall is fastened to one another, the magnet had a negligible effect on them. The danger comes from metal objects that are ferrous and are loose, or may become loose – oxygen tanks, medical instruments, hinges, screws, furniture, cabinet pulls, light fixture components. These must all be specified to be assembled of non-ferrous components if they are in the magnet room. Since MRI’s are powerful magnets that can attract large metal objects, they are hazardous to operate and 4 strict zones of access control must be designed, maintained and shown on the plans.