Amanda M.
Lauer1, Abdelmonem M. El-Sharkawy2, Dara L. Kraitchman2,
William A. Edelstein2
1Otolaryngology-HNS, Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Radiology/MRI
Division, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
Vertebrate
animal MRI is an important part of medical research, and veterinary MRI
imaging of companion animals is increasing. Human subjects are generally
provided with hearing protection against the loud, potentially damaging
acoustic noise produced by MRI scanners; this is generally not done for
animal MRI subjects. Hearing damage can interfere with research functions for
research animals or quality of life for companion animals. We compare typical
MRI noise levels to animal hearing thresholds and conclude that MRI exposes
many animals to levels of noise and duration that would exceed NIOSH limits
for human exposure.