Man wearing neck chain is pulled into MRI machine during a scan in New York, police say

MRI machines use magnets and radio frequency currents to produce detailed anatomical images. 123rf

A man who entered an MRI room during a scan in Westbury, New York, yesterday was pulled into the machine by his chain necklace and was hospitalised in critical condition, authorities said.

The man, who is 61, was wearing a “large metallic chain” around his neck when he entered the room at Nassau Open MRI at about 4.34pm local time, according to the Nassau County Police Department, on Long Island.

The man, whom the police did not name, did not have authorisation to enter the room, authorities said.

Nassau Open MRI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MRI machines use magnets and radio frequency currents to produce detailed anatomical images.

The magnetic force of an MRI machine is strong enough to fling a wheelchair across a room, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Patients are advised to remove jewellery and piercings before entering an MRI machine, and people with some medical implants, particularly those containing iron, should not undergo MRI scans, the institute said.

Injuries and deaths involving MRI machines have occurred in the past.

In 2001, a 6-year-old boy died when a metal oxygen tank was pulled into a machine while he was undergoing a scan.

A man died in India in 2018 when he entered an MRI room carrying an oxygen tank.

In 2023, a nurse in California was crushed and needed surgery after she was pinned between an MRI machine and a hospital bed that was pulled towards the machine by the machine’s magnetic force.

Nassau Open MRI offers closed and open MRI scans, according to its website.

An open MRI involves a machine that is open at the sides rather than a closed tube.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Rylee Kirk

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