New Pacemaker Safe for MRIs

People who have pacemakers face a number of difficulties during their lives as a result of the fact that the pacemaker is incompatible with certain types of technology. For example, when these people are dealing with medical conditions, their screening options are sometimes limited because screening methods like the MRI can't be used on someone who has a pacemaker. Hopefully, this fact will someday be a thing of the past. That's what Medtronic is working on right now. The company just received approval from the FDA to start a trial of a new type of pacemaker that should be able to work with MRI scanning technology. There will be certain scanning requirements and precautions that need to be taken but it could be a great breakthrough for pacemaker patients. The MRI can be a very important tool in diagnosing many different diseases at their onset. Patients with pacemakers should be prevented from utilizing this tool. If things go well with the Medtronic trial, they may not have to be for long. Question of the Day: What limitations are you aware of for pacemaker patients?