RF shielding for MRI rooms is necessary to prevent

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the uppe ...

from entering into the

MRI scanner The physics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) concerns fundamental physical considerations of MRI techniques and technological aspects of MRI devices. MRI is a medical imaging technique mostly used in radiology and nuclear medicine in order t ...

and distorting the image. The three main types of shielding used for MRIs are copper, steel, and aluminum. Copper is generally considered the best shielding for MRI rooms. RF shielding should not be confused with

magnetic shielding In electrical engineering, electromagnetic shielding is the practice of reducing or blocking the electromagnetic field (EMF) in a space with barriers made of conductive or magnetic materials. It is typically applied to enclosures, for isolating ...

, which is used to prevent the magnetic field of the MRI magnet from interfering with

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

s and other equipment outside of the MRI room. After the MRI room has been completely shielded, all utility services such as electrical for lights, air conditioning, fire sprinklers and other penetrations into the room must be routed through specialized

filter Filter, filtering or filters may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream * Filter (video), a software component that ...

s provided by the RF shielding vendor.

References

* (Also see th
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Electromagnetism {{medical-equipment-stub