Philips is recalling hundreds of MRI machines around the globe over concerns the medical imaging equipment could explode during normal operation — something a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bulletin states has already happened once before.
The “class one” recall — the most serious type — was published by the FDA online this week, and warns owners of Philips Panorama 1.0T HFO magnetic resonance imagers to discontinue use of the machines until a service technician is able to make corrective repairs.
Sold between 2001 and 2016, the machines are employed broadly by medical facilities around the world to image the inside of patients’ bodies. Today, 150 Panorama 1.0T HFO machines are operating in the United States, and there are reportedly 340 globally.
The recall was issued after it was determined that during a “quench” — when the magnet coils are no longer at near-absolute zero and lose their superconductivity – the helium gas that’s supposed to super-cool the coils evaporates and could cause the device to rupture.
Which one is it? Should I have an emergency or not?
Don’t worry. You can tell if it’s one of the faulty machines about to explode if it starts to make weird buzzing and clicking sounds.
That’s mean.
An “emergency quench” is when they need to shut down the magnet in a hurry, such as if someone foolishly brought metal into the room and it’s pinning the patient to the machine. This happens with metal gurneys, chairs, and even guns, more often than it should.
The problem here is that as the helium is warming up, very quickly, it could rupture the machine rather than escaping through a valve, causing additional danger to someone who is trapped in the machine and already in danger.
Since the magnet normally needs several days to properly shut down or start up, the emergency quench is the only way to save someone who is endangered by the strong magnetic field, but it can also damage the machine to shut it down that quickly. (Even when it doesn’t explode)
It could explode at any time!