You will be greeted by our receptionist and asked to fill out a consent form. Then a veterinary technician will check you in and explain the MRI procedure. Your pet will then be brought to our MRI suite and prepared for anesthesia. It takes approximately 1 1/2 hours to perform one MRI exam. Each additional exam takes 30-45 minutes longer.

On your pet’s arrival, you will be greeted by our receptionist and asked to fill out a consent form. Once it is completed, a veterinary technician will check you in and go over the ultrasound procedure. Then your pet will be brought to our ultrasound suite, possibly anesthetized (see below) and placed in a soft and comfortable positioning device. In most cases we shave the hair at the location of the ultrasound exam to obtain better images and a more accurate diagnosis.

During your first visit, you will be asked to register at our reception desk and to fill out a comprehensive health history questionnaire. This may take about 15 minutes, but is time well spent. This exercise forces you to recall details of your past medical history and puts things in perspective for the doctor. This would also be a good time for you to write down any questions you may have.

There is no special preparation necessary for your pet or home. When we arrive, we will spend a few minutes talking about your pet's specific situation, answering your questions about the procedure, and discussing the options for aftercare. When everyone is ready, we will go to your pet at a spot that is comfortable and non-threatening. This can be just about anywhere you decide: your lap, your pet's bed, or even outside under a favorite tree.

This is a very difficult question to answer because there can be so many ways the appointment can progress. The first appointment begins with us getting more familiar with you and your pet. We go over the information provided by your vet and when necessary get more information from you about your pet. We will observe your pet and do a brief physical examination.

The registered nuclear medicine technologist will explain the procedure to you, ask you to complete a questionnaire and answer any questions that you might have. The technologist will take all prior studies including CT and MR that you have brought for comparison and then give you a small amount of a radioactive tracer, which is injected into your bloodstream. The radiation exposure associated with PET is similar to that associated with a conventional CT scan.

If you have a pacemaker, you should not be imaged because the pacemaker may be damaged in the magnetic field of the scanner. If you have metal filings, shrapnel, or ferromagnetic clips or pins in your body, you probably will not be imaged because these objects could be twisted by the magnetic field and cause serious injuries. Most new surgical metal implants are made of a high quality stainless steel which is non-magnetic. You can be imaged with these. Dental fillings and bridgework are okay.

Typically street clothes are fine. A comfortable, loose fitting sweat suit or jogging outfit would be acceptable as well. For females, if we are scanning your spine, neck, chest or abdomen we will ask you to remove your bra. A sports bra contains no metal and would not need to be removed prior to scanning. If you are coming from work or do not have any of the above mentioned items do not go out and buy them just for your MRI appointment.

The EEG permits to evaluate the manner in which a particular person's brain functions are organized and how the brain use its strength to cope with a disease and how it compensate/adapts to it. PET and MRI are not used for the this purpose, they provide a physical structural assesment on a morphological level, not being suitable for real-time functional activity assessment. EEG/QEEG, or PET and MRI are distinct techniques.

We have two good articles that cover this: "Our Post-Placement Evaluations" and the "Welcome Home Guide".

Your follow-up appointment with your plastic surgeon will probably be scheduled for 7 to 10 days after surgery to remove your stitches (unless your surgeon uses dissolvable sutures) and undergo a post-operative examination. This and any other routine follow-up appointments are usually included in the total fee for the operation.

If an abnormality is seen, the radiologist will characterize it as one that needs only a follow up MRI study in three to six months or as an abnormality that requires a biopsy. Needing a biopsy does not mean you have breast cancer.

All four are useful for non-invasive medical imaging. X-rays Conventional X-ray images are usually on photographic film or a fluorescent screen. X-rays from an X-ray tube pass through the body and the difference in absorption by different structures in the body is what produces contrast in the images. The images are 2D projections of a 3D object so they contain overlapping structures.

Many pet owners believe their pet will be less stressed and more cooperative if they are with them, but it is often the opposite. It is also important to avoid interruptions and possible distractions to allow the radiologist, veterinary technicians and MRI technologist to fully concentrate on your pet and the MRI exam. MRI examinations can be performed more efficiently and more accurately when only trained staff is present.