MRI 7/25/26
Last week I had to get an MRI — some things I learned. They take great 3D pictures, but they can’t do 3D printing (I thought it would be cool to 3D print a copy of me). I can hold my breath for a good amount of time and could have gone longer (but no one likes a showoff). They make a lot of loud, strange noises (they should be able to reengineer these things to be quieter). I found out I am not claustrophobic (there is an opportunity to make these machines a little bigger – I’m not a big person, but if you are how do you fit in an MRI)? MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging – (I asked if eating a lot of tuna would blow the machine up – because of the mercury in tuna and they assured me it was OK). They injected GBCA (a gadolinium-based agent) into my veins to temporarily alter the magnetic properties of water molecules in my body (how cool is that – the downside I glowed in the dark for two days afterwards). They were originally called NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) machines - the word "nuclear" was dropped in the 1970s because developers worried it would scare patients away (you think)! Finally, the technician talked to me throughout the test, and it reminded me of a rocket ship takeoff – so to pass the time I pretended I was an astronaut about to be shot off in space – unfortunately, we never left the room – that was a little disappointing).