RE: The MRI and Looping: For Ambient & Experimental Music?

["Michael Plishka" <mike@michaelplishka.com>]

It is amazing how strong the magnetic field is in the room.  Walk in with a 6" needle about 2mm in diameter at the end of a string and watch it levitate and align itself with the field....catheters, etc. are a problem because they also will induce eddy currents and raise the temperature in the patient if blood circulation is impeded.  Metal in the body isn't necessarily a problem if it has "grown into" the surrounding tissue; if it's long and thin there are eddy current problems but dislodging it in the body isn't a problem unless it's a newer implant of sorts.

 

The internal communication is either fiber optics or old fashioned tubes depending on the system. 

 

The field obviously gets  stronger the closer one is, that's why a parabolic mic from the doorway or perhaps using the tube technology in reverse would be the way to go. 

 

~peace~

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: paul [mailto:phaslem@wightman.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 9:04 PM
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Subject: Re: The MRI and Looping: For Ambient & Experimental Music?

I was talking with one of the techs at the hospital where I work about this discussion. He told me that there is nothing metal in the room. In fact if you have a tattoo, they pack it in ice because something in the ink reacts to the high magnetism and makes it really hot. I asked about the Microphone they have in the room and he was telling me that all the communication wiring is done with fiber optics. I was wondering about using a couple of contact pickups, I have a few McIntyres kicking around here, on the door or the window and seeing what it would pickup. If I get a chance, I can ask about it if you like.

paul

Ontario, Canada




At 02:09 PM 12/7/2005, you wrote:

That would be outstanding. Perhaps putting the recording in the control room of the MRI facility and having the wires run into the room, two stereo microphones on either side of the machine would be ideal, but that may not be feasible. Even a basis minidisc recorder with a small stereo microphone attached would be good enough raw material for me!  :)
 
Your comment about the headphones explains why the headphones they put on me were attached to plastic tubing that ran to the control room...just the like good ol' fashion communication system in boats and submarines!  I think a mic would be fine outside the machine. When I had my MRI, there were plenty of objects in the room around the machine...I just couldn't have any metallic objects on my body inside it. They were really concerned about that. I was shot in the leg by a .357 magnum when I was a teenager, which left several pieces of soft lead in my leg, which were removed surgically. That was enough for them to open their manual and search for data on that caliber of gun, types of bullets, copper vs. lead shells, etc.

Kris