Why You Shouldn’t Bring A Police Rifle Into An MRI Machine
A medical imaging facility in California is suing the Los Angeles Police Department, the city of Los Angeles, and multiple police officers for damages caused during a mistaken police raid. According to the NoHo Diagnostic Center in Los Angeles, an officer carelessly walked into their MRI scanning room with his rifle in hand , which allegedly caused it to be pulled across the room and pinned against the magnet. This resulted in serious damage to equipment.
The LAPD wrongly raided the NoHo Diagnostic Center in Los Angeles, thinking it was a front for illegal drug activity. When searching the premises, one of the officers walked into the MRI room holding his rifle in his hand, past the usual large safety signs warning against bringing metal objects into the room.
Predictably, the rifle flew out of the officer's hand and stuck to the magnet. Fortunately, the rifle didn't discharge.
MRI machines use a very powerful magnet to generate exquisitely detailed images of internal anatomy for diagnostic purposes. These magnets are thousands of times more powerful than standard refrigerator magnets and can attract iron and steel objects with incredible force. (Metal objects made purely of titanium or other non-ferromagnetic materials are not affected.)
The magnets can pull scissors, oxygen tanks, floor buffers, and even full-sized hospital beds across the room and into the magnet. For dramatic images of such safety mishaps, please see this image from Dr. Frank Shellock .
The magnet is always "on"; it's not possible to just flip a switch to power down the magnet. Thus MRI facilities have very clear warning signs so that cleaning crews and other non-medical personnel who enter the building during the off-hours know not to bring in large metal objects past the safety line.
Furthermore, the magnets use special "superconducting" electrical circuits, which must be kept at low temperatures close to absolute zero, i.e., −459°F. The electricity flows through the key circuits with literally zero electrical resistance, which creates the powerful magnetic field. Thus, the MRI machinery includes a delicate system of liquid helium and liquid nitrogen to keep the internal circuitry at that low temperature.
If there is a life-threatening MRI safety incident, the MRI staff can perform an emergency "quench." This shuts down the power to the cooling elements, such that the key circuits are no longer superconducting. However, this results in rapid heating of the machinery due to the sudden spike in electrical resistance, and turns the internal liquid nitrogen and helium into gas. An emergency quench can cause irreparable damage to the machinery, costing thousands of dollars to replace. And the sudden release of helium and nitrogen gas into the room can displace the normal room air, creating a risk of asphyxiation for humans
According to the MRI facility, a second officer pushed the sealed emergency quench button in the room, releasing " 2,000 liters of helium gas and resulting in extensive damage to the MRI machine. " The first officer retrieved his rifle and left the scanner room "leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor."
Of course, I have no direct personal knowledge of the incident. I don't know if the LAPD officers didn't see the warning signs in the magnet room, or if they saw them but didn't think it applied to them. But I do know that law enforcement officers are not exempt from the laws of physics. If the legal complaint against the LAPD is proven in court, I hope the city of Los Angeles does right by the MRI facility.
By the way, the police officers found no evidence of illegal drug activity.
