Whole-Body MRI: A New Era in Personalized Medicine

Benefits | Pricing | Other Key Preventative Tests | MRI Preparation

Your health is your most valuable asset!

Modern medicine is undergoing a shift from “reactive” care to proactive, preventative health care. Instead of waiting for the symptoms of disease to appear, you can now detect diseases and chronic health conditions at an earlier stage, at a time when more options are available to treat them and prevent them from becoming life-threatening.

This is now possible with whole-body MRI—a noninvasive imaging technology designed to detect potential health concerns before symptoms appear. Whether you’re concerned about your risk for disease, or simply want peace of mind, whole-body MRI offers a powerful new way to better understand your health.

What Is a whole-body MRI?

A whole-body MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of nearly every major organ system in the body—all without any radiation exposure. In less than an hour, this advanced scan can evaluate key areas of your body including:

Brain and spine
Liver
Kidneys
Pancreas
Gallbladder and bile ducts

What are the benefits you can achieve with whole-body MRI?

Early Detection of Serious Health Conditions

When the symptoms of some diseases finally appear, it may already be too late! One of the greatest advantages of whole-body MRI is early detection—the ability to identify disease at early stages, often before symptoms appear, and when more options for successful treatment are available.

Whole-body MRI has the potential to detect:

Numerous cancerous tumors
Aortic aneurysms
Numerous inflammatory conditions
Enlarged lymph nodes

Comprehensive, Head-to-Toe Assessment

Instead of focusing on a single organ, whole-body MRI provides a broad overview of your entire body in a single test. This comprehensive approach can not only reveal hidden health issues, but it can provide a baseline for future comparisons that will help you achieve greater health insights as you age. Armed with information, you can:

Make lifestyle changes
Know exactly where to focus on follow-up testing
Enable more personalized healthcare planning

Greater Peace of Mind

For many patients, the greatest benefit of whole-body MRI is to gain an understanding of their personal health status. For those at risk of certain diseases, a normal scan can help reduce uncertainty and reinforce healthy habits. For others, it can provide reassurance that family history concerns are not an issue at this time, and the likelihood of being blindsided by disease is greatly diminished.

Who Benefits the Most from Whole-Body MRI?

This test may be especially valuable for individuals who:

Have a family history of cancer or chronic disease
Want a baseline health assessment
Are focused on longevity and preventive care
Prefer a comprehensive, one-time screening approach
Have known risk factors requiring broader evaluation

Whole Body MRI Pricing

RMI’s price for this screening is $2,200.

Learn about how cash pay pricing can significantly cut the cost of your MRI exam in this Wall Street Journal article featuring an interview with RMI.

RMI Pricing

Enhance Your Whole-Body MRI with Other Key Preventive Tests

As comprehensive as the whole-body MRI is, there are certain health conditions for which other preventive imaging tests are better suited. For the most complete assessment possible with today’s technology, consider adding other preventive imaging tests such as:

Breast MRI – An excellent screening test for women at high risk for breast cancer, as well as women with breast implants and women who cannot be exposed to radiation. Breast MRI can also be an important preventive tool for women with a strong family history, genetic risk factors or other concerns.
Prostate MRI – A non-invasive and highly revealing imaging test for men with an elevated risk for prostate cancer. It can detect–or rule out–clinically-significant prostate cancer, helping men avoid an unnecessary biopsy or helping to make a biopsy more accurate.
Coronary Calcium Score – A 10-minute CT scan of the heart and coronary arteries to detect the calcified plaque that is an early warning sign of coronary artery disease. This test can help you prevent a heart attack!
DEXA Densitometry – A fast and easy test to detect low bone mass, the greatest risk factor for osteoporosis. This test can also be used to perform body fat composition analysis, providing a more complete picture of your health than BMI alone.

If you are at risk for any of the health conditions these tests can detect, ask about scheduling one or more of these tests on the same day as your whole-body MRI.

The Future of Preventive Imaging is at RMI

Advances in imaging technology continue to improve the speed, accuracy, and accessibility of whole-body MRI. As Michigan’s leading outpatient imaging center, we maintain the latest MRI equipment which means greater detail, faster imaging and improved patient comfort. In addition, our doctors are specially trained to evaluate whole-body MRI and can help guide you on your journey to achieve or maintain wellness.

Talk to your healthcare provider today to determine whether whole-body MRI is right for you!

Preparing for Your MRI

Metallic surgical implants and accidentally implanted metallic objects can interfere with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Some can actually be hazardous to your safety during the examination. If you have any of the following items, please contact the MRI Department before scheduling:

Defibrillator / Pacemaker
Dentures*
Electrodes
Hearing Aids*
Renal Transplant / Renal Failure
Carotid Clips
Brain Aneurysm Clips or Coils
Artificial heart
Prosthesis*
Insulin Pump*
Aortic Clip
Neurostimulator
Shunts
Loop Recorder / Cardiac Monitor
Cochlear Implant / Stapes Implant

(*must be removed prior to procedure)

Dress comfortably. Sweat suits are recommended, as are sports bras for women. You should arrive for your examination with as little metal on you as possible. Any implants or prostheses should be approved prior to the exam. Please leave jewelry and other valuables at home. Body piercings should be removed prior to the examination. Wedding rings may be left on.

Abdomen Exam

Nothing to eat or drink 6 hours prior to the exam. You can take your medications with a sip of water.

Also Notify RMI Before Your Exam If You:

Are or suspect you may be pregnant
Have any history of metal in your eyes or have had brain, eye, ear, or open-heart surgery