Q: Why are MRI's so noisy?

Many MRI machines are noisy, but the multipositional scanner at the East Bay Upright MRI Center contains special features that greatly reduce the noise level.

Not all MRIs are noisy but those that are noisy are noisy because of vibrating gradients, the adjunctive, non-uniform magnetic fields that enable the scanner to collect data from a particular cross-sectional plane. These gradient vibrations have been reduced to a minimum in the East Bay Upright MRI Center scanner. For many patients, these "whisper quiet" gradients are a welcome change from the noise and stress associated with competitive machines.

Furthermore, because the main magnetic field in our multipositional scanner is vertical, enabling an open patient environment, what little noise is present is dissipated rather than concentrated. In fact, our machine is so quiet that patients often fall asleep.

It stands to reason, of course, that an open patient environment contributes to a relaxed patient and thus improved image quality. Optimum image quality, of course, translates into images that provide optimum diagnostic information to the radiologist.

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