The loud banging noise during MRI scans is primarily caused by the movement of which component?

The loud banging noise during MRI scans is primarily caused by the movement of which component?

• A. Transmit coils
• B. Gradient coils
• C. Main magnet
• D. RF coils

Answer: (B)

The loud banging comes from the rapid switching of the gradient coils. These coils create small, quickly changing magnetic fields to encode spatial information in the image. In the presence of the strong main magnetic field, the currents in the gradient coils experience large forces, causing the coils and surrounding hardware to vibrate. Those vibrations propagate through the MRI machine and bore, producing the characteristic loud bangs. The main magnet provides a constant field and isn’t as prone to producing these mechanical sounds, and the RF coils mainly handle radiofrequency energy rather than generating the loud mechanical noise.

The loud banging comes from the rapid switching of the gradient coils. These coils create small, quickly changing magnetic fields to encode spatial information in the image. In the presence of the strong main magnetic field, the currents in the gradient coils experience large forces, causing the coils and surrounding hardware to vibrate. Those vibrations propagate through the MRI machine and bore, producing the characteristic loud bangs. The main magnet provides a constant field and isn’t as prone to producing these mechanical sounds, and the RF coils mainly handle radiofrequency energy rather than generating the loud mechanical noise.