Introduction

Nowadays, many new human diseases and cancers are spreading illnesses all over the world. Accordingly, the more people that get diseases or cancers, the more the health care industry is asked for service. Health care delivery system includes many parts of a structure that provides traditional health care to the public, such as preventative, diagnostic, therapeutic, and so on.

Diagnostic radiology sciences perform an important function within today’s health service by doing things such techniques as X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI Scans), computed tomography (CT Scans) and ultrasound for the purposes of correct diagnostics in order to treat certain diseases as well. To satisfy health care needs of every human being effectively, radiology practitioners must deal with not only health care ethics in regard to treating patient equitably and kindly but also standard precautions concerning infection control guidelines at workplace. As neither a diagnostic radiology science nor a patient, you may be exposed to many different sources of infectious diseases that are caused by pathogenic microorganism; including bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. Infections may be transmitted, directly or indirectly, from one person to another by blood, body fluids, air, respiratory secretions or contact with other infectious materials. In this paper, I will address some routes of infection transmission and infection prevention for both patient and MRI practitioners in the MRI suite (Peggy, 2007).

Discussion

Healthcare and community link infections are a great and expanding problem throughout the entire globe. “Healthcare associated infections” (HAI’s) contribute a huge public health problem in the US which constitutes about 10% of the patients who are hospitalized in each year, of course this is estimated at two million reported cases of (HAI’s), about 90,000 fatalities and approximately $6 billion in healthcare related costs.

A lot of patients with severe infections normally have certain kind of imaging procedures done in the process of their treatment. The department of radiology and the centers for outpatient imaging should take necessary action to guarantee patients that their MRI machine is not an essential hub for the disease causing microorganisms. Nevertheless, for a couple of reasons, the MRI package in most cases are without the basic guard against the infections and this could be as a result of its unique environment, it becomes quite hard for the implementation and maintenance of an appropriate policy to control the infection. Because of the hazards from very strong magnetic fields, housekeeping employees and a number of equipments used for cleaning are normally restricted from getting into the MRI suite. And due to lack of thorough cleaning, recent research conducted in Ireland revealed that some cultured MRSA from the pore of the MRI suite.

The (“American College of Radiology”(ACR) has come up with a document on MR safe procedures and the latest one was done in 2007. MRI arena is divided into four zones by the ACR. Zone four is the most critical one which in itself is the magnet area. Anybody entering this zone with no supervision has to be a Level two trained. The Level two trained are such persons who have been thoroughly educated and trained in wide elements of MRI safety concerns including issues connected to burns, risk for thermal loading and (direct neuromuscular excitation from rapidly changing gradients). The ACR particularly puts it that any non-level two staff getting into the scan room has to be accompanied or be under direct supervision of or in verbal or visual communication with an identified Level two staff for the total duration he takes in the scan room. Moreover, the non-level 2 MR staff, for example, cleaners are subjected to a proper screening to ensure that they do not have or carry aneurysm, a pacemaker and any other harmful ferromagnetic materials on or in their body. This is the reason as to why the cleaning team is usually not permitted to enter the scan room.

Infection control (zone four)

Due to safety issues concerning incidental staff within the MR pack, restricting cleaning and housekeeping staff form Zone three and Zone four areas will generate concerns on the cleanliness of the MR pack/suite. Construction details and the magnet finish ought to be designed to allow for cleaning by the adequately educated and trained personnel with equipments which are not motorized (Dietze and Martiny, 2008). In addition, as the number of interventional applications and MR-guidelines increase, simple infection control measures such as scrub able surfaces, seamless floors and hand washing points should be looked into.

MRI Suite

The zone that poses major challenge for controlling the transmission of (MRSA) and any other infection in Radiology is no doubt the MRI suite. Because of the great magnetic area causing a danger to the staff and also spoiling the MRI and in order to abide by the (American College of Radiology) propositions, many hospitals and freestanding imaging centers do not permit cleaning personnel to get into the MRI pack and as a result MRI packs are not regularly cleaned (Peggy, 2007).

MRI technicians, mainly the ones who were trained in the 1980’s and 1970’s had minimal training on proper cleaning procedures and infections. There is also another field of great exposure to the infection organisms or an agent is the application both MRI and CT that essentially promotes the risk of the contamination of the blood (Carmeli and Cosgrov, 2008).

There is also an issue for the transmission of infectious pathogens by indirect or direct contact between the patients and the imaging personnel within the imaging center or department. Infections from MRSA can be gotten by the personnel through a simple small cut on the dermis that may at times not be recognized during a busy schedule. Hand washing between the staff and the patients in addition to the use of hand sanitizer for everyone here in of great significance.

Bacteria and Table pads

One much neglected concern is the frayed and torn pads used in imaging centers and departments. Once the material used for covering is breached, proper cleaning of pads becomes very difficult and therefore they should be replaced or removed immediately.

Another aspect of concern is the aerosolization of MRSA pathogens. The MRI table pads apparently have some air within them. When a sick parson sleeps on the pads, the air that was trapped inside is forced outside through seams or any hole within the covering materials and the pathogens could aerosolize within the room environment and as a preventive measure all pads should be inspected using a magnifying glass and when any puncture or hole and any compromise on the integrity of the cover materials is observed, then the pads must be replaced immediately with new ones (Carmeli and Cosgrov, 2008).

It is also fundamental that all the pads be tested occasionally by the use of “ultraviolet wavelengths that is essentially sensitive in detecting biological materials such as body fluids, fingerprints, blood, etc.” This is an ideal method to authenticate that the cleaning processes are adequate.

The magnet tunnel/ bore

The area that is identified to be much risky is the inside of the MRI unit in itself, and is commonly known as the magnet tunnel or bore. Transmission risk of MRSA in the place is considered much risky because the patients are mostly in contact with the bore surface. It is also in the general domain that cleaning the tunnel of an MRI suite is hard, harmful and difficult duty. The recommended style to clean to the tunnel is through physical crawl of the inside and disinfecting the whole tunnel using hand (Dietze and Martiny, 2008).

Conclusion

The safety of all patients must be the key concern of all healthcare organizations. Protecting staff and patients calls for a concerted effort by all the stakeholders involved in the diagnostic imaging. There is no doubt that infection control has not gotten the attention it needs. There is an increasing concern that may be certain kinds of the transmission of the infection pathogens could be resulting from radiology departments and outpatient imaging centers.

Nevertheless, it appears like very little if no attention has been given to “infection controls within these MRIs”.

References

Carmeli Y, and Cosgrove S.E, (2008). Clinical Infectious Diseases. Basingstoke: Falmer Press.

Dietze B, R and Martiny H.(2008). Survival of MRSA on sterile goods packaging. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Harbarth S,K and Carmeli,Y.(2007) Infection Control Hospital .Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 

Kramer LA, Johnson , Singh H, and Crow WN. (2008). Projectile cylinder accidents resulting from the presence of ferromagnetic nitrous oxide or oxygen tanks in the MR suite. AJR 276; 177:27–30

Peggy ,P.(2007). Fatal MRI Accident is First of its Kind. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Scanlon T, and Murray, J.(2008). Detection in the Radiology. London: Kogan