MRI may be full of germs

SAN FRANCISCO, March 6 (UPI) -- The Joint Commission, the main entity that accredits U.S. hospitals, warns of the importance of infection control in magnetic resonance imaging facilities.

Dr. Peter Rothschild, author of the paper "Preventing Infections in MRI: Best Practices" -- formerly of the University of California, San Francisco, where he helped develop the first commercially available Open MRI scanner -- said the Joint Commission is concerned about the lack of infection control in the MRI suite.

"The Joint Commission clearly cannot assure the public that an accredited hospital is safe without thoroughly evaluating the MRI suite. The lack of even basic infection control, such as hand washing or cleaning between patients, is well known by technologists operating the MRI and radiologists reading the MRIs," Rothschild said in a statement. "An MRI is a very complex and dangerous area to clean. It is unreasonable to think it can be cleaned safely and effectively by untrained personnel."

The Joint Commission will in the future properly train their inspectors to physically enter MRI rooms for more definitive inspections, Rothschild said.

"The areas under greatest scrutiny will be: existence of an infection control policy; how and when the MRI was cleaned; who is performing this cleaning and what is their safety training; and examining all the table pads and positioners to see if they are torn or frayed," Rothschild said.

Guidelines state that a clean sheet is not a barrier to infectious agents. However, this is usually the only thing used to protect patients during MRIs, Rothschild said.