- AI
- Molecular Imaging
- CT
- X-Ray
- Ultrasound
- MRI
- Facility Management
- Mammography
Europe gets reprieve on restrictive MRI legislation
The European Commission announced today that it will postpone and amend legislation that would pose a serious threat to the use of MRI in patient care and scientific research.
The European Commission announced today that it will postpone and amend legislation that would pose a serious threat to the use of MRI in patient care and scientific research.
The European Union EMF Directive, adopted by the European parliament in 2004 and set to become national law in April 2008, is to be delayed by four years until April 30, 2012. The delay will allow time for a substantive amendment to be adopted, according to a press release from the Alliance for MRI, a coalition of European parliamentarians, radiology societies and organizations, and patient groups
The future amendment will aim to ensure that limits will not have an adverse effect on the practice of MRI, according to the commission. The commission further recommended that member states stop any progress toward adopting of the current directive.
The legislation is aimed at protecting workers from harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation, such as that emitted by mobile phones and electrical power lines. If implemented, the directive would prevent healthcare staff from assisting or caring for patients during imaging.
It would mean that some patients who cannot be imaged without such tending - if they are young, elderly, frail, or confused - would either be denied imaging or have to undergo alternative procedures such as x-rays.
"MRI is a powerful, noninvasive, and safe diagnostic and research tool," said Dr. Gabriel Krestin, a leading member of the Alliance for MRI. "However, its application often relies crucially on the presence of a healthcare worker or researcher. If the European Commission legislation were implemented, it would almost certainly impact on patient welfare and be a major setback for scientific research, denying patients innovative treatments in the future."
Krestin said the Alliance looks forward to working with the European Commission to amend the directive and that any new legislation must be evidence-based and founded on sound science.
For more from the Diagnostic Imaging archives:
Commission poised to delay rule that could suffocate MRI use in Europe
Europeans scramble to thwart threshold law for electromagnetics
New Literature Review Assesses Merits of Cardiac MRI After Survival of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
April 19th 2024While noting inconsistencies with the diagnostic yield of cardiac MRI in patients who survived sudden cardiac arrest, researchers cited unique advantages in characterizing ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and facilitating alternate diagnoses.
Study of Ofatumumab for Multiple Sclerosis Shows 'Profoundly Suppressed MRI Lesion Activity'
April 17th 2024The use of continuous ofatumumab in patients within three years of a relapsing multiple sclerosis diagnosis led to substantial reductions in associated lesions on brain MRI scans, according to research recently presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) conference.
MRI-Based AI Model Shows Promise in Predicting Lymph Node Metastasis with Breast Cancer
April 15th 2024For the prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer, an MRI-based, 4D convolutional neural network model demonstrated an AUC of 87 percent and sensitivity of 89 percent, according to new research.
