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What This Guide Helps With
Troubleshooting image artifacts, ghosting, shading, distortion, RF noise, or failed MRI QA scans before escalating for service.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
Ensure Patient Safety First
If artifacts or image quality problems occur during a patient exam, do not continue scanning if diagnostic quality is questionable.
Move the patient to another MRI system if clinically necessary and available.
Expected outcome: Patient care is not dependent on images from a system with unresolved quality concerns.
Confirm the Artifact or QA Failure
Review the reported issue with MRI staff and determine whether the problem occurred during:
- Patient imaging
- Daily QA
- Phantom testing
- A specific protocol
- A specific coil
- A specific table position
- All exams
Expected outcome: The issue is narrowed to a repeatable symptom instead of a vague image quality complaint.
Check for External RF Interference
Inspect the MRI room for unauthorized or unusual items, including phones, smart watches, tablets, pumps, monitors, cables, tools, carts, or non-MR equipment.
Remove any questionable item from the scan room before repeating QA.
Expected outcome: If RF noise or artifact was caused by external interference, image quality improves after the item is removed.
If this resolves the issue, document the finding and stop.
Verify MRI Room Door and RF Shielding Conditions
Confirm the scanner room door fully closes and seals properly. Look for damaged door fingers, loose shielding contact points, or objects preventing full closure.
Expected outcome: The RF-shielded room is properly closed during scanning.
If poor door closure caused the artifact, correct the obstruction or report the door/shielding issue for repair.
Check Coil Selection and Coil Connection
Confirm the correct coil is selected for the exam or QA scan. Inspect the coil connector, table connector area, and coil cable routing for obvious damage, looseness, or contamination.
Reseat the coil connection if safe and appropriate.
Expected outcome: The coil is properly recognized and connected before scanning.
If the artifact follows one coil, remove that coil from service and test with another known-good coil.
Repeat the Scan With a Known-Good Coil
If the issue occurred with a patient coil, repeat a basic test or QA sequence using a known-good coil approved for the system.
Expected outcome: If the known-good coil produces normal images, the original coil or coil cable is suspect.
If this resolves the issue, remove the faulty coil from service and document the coil-specific failure.
Inspect the Phantom and QA Setup
For failed QA scans, verify the correct phantom is being used, positioned correctly, and filled according to site practice.
Check for phantom bubbles, leaks, incorrect orientation, poor centering, or movement during scanning.
Expected outcome: QA is repeated with a correctly positioned and stable phantom.
If the QA scan passes after correcting phantom setup, document the setup issue and stop.
Verify Table Position and Patient/Phantom Centering
Confirm the patient or phantom is properly centered at isocenter and positioned according to the intended protocol.
Poor centering can contribute to shading, signal drop-off, distortion, or failed uniformity results.
Expected outcome: The scan is repeated with proper positioning and improved image quality.
Check Protocol and Parameter Selection
Confirm MRI staff used the correct protocol, coil combination, field of view, slice position, acceleration settings, and scan orientation.
Compare the failed scan against a recently successful protocol if available.
Expected outcome: The issue is not caused by an incorrect or modified protocol.
If a protocol change caused the artifact, restore the correct protocol or involve the MRI lead/physicist as appropriate.
Look for Patient Motion or Physiologic Ghosting
For patient images, check whether ghosting aligns with phase direction and whether motion, breathing, swallowing, cardiac motion, or patient discomfort may have contributed.
Expected outcome: Motion-related artifacts are identified as exam-specific rather than system failure.
If motion caused the issue, document it as clinical scan behavior, not equipment failure.
Check for Metal or External Objects Near the Anatomy
Confirm there were no removable metal objects, clothing components, patches, ECG leads, jewelry, hair accessories, or external devices near the scan area.
Expected outcome: Artifact from external objects is ruled out before suspecting system hardware.
If removing the item resolves the artifact, document the cause and stop.
Review Recent Changes Around the Scanner
Ask whether any of the following changed recently:
- New equipment near the MRI suite
- Construction nearby
- Electrical work
- HVAC work
- RF door repair
- Coil replacement
- Software updates
- Protocol changes
- Failed chiller or cooling alerts
Expected outcome: The artifact is correlated with a recent environmental, facility, or system change.
Check for System Warnings or Related Error Messages
Review the operator console for active warnings, coil messages, gradient warnings, cooling alerts, reconstruction errors, or QA-related messages.
Expected outcome: Any associated system warning is captured before escalation.
Do not clear or ignore recurring errors without documenting them.
Repeat Daily QA Under Controlled Conditions
If no obvious external issue is found, repeat the required QA scan using the correct phantom, proper setup, correct coil, and standard site procedure.
Expected outcome: QA either passes, confirming the issue was setup-related, or fails again, confirming a repeatable problem.
If QA fails repeatedly under controlled conditions, remove the system from clinical use according to site policy.
Compare Artifact Behavior Across Coils and Sequences
Determine whether the problem occurs:
- With one coil only
- With all coils
- On one protocol only
- On all sequences
- In one image plane
- At one table position
- Only during high-SAR or demanding sequences
Expected outcome: Clinical Engineering can provide Siemens service or the physicist with a clear failure pattern.
Escalate When Image Quality Cannot Be Verified
If image artifacts persist, QA fails repeatedly, or diagnostic image quality is uncertain, stop troubleshooting at the external-check level.
Expected outcome: The system is removed from clinical use until qualified service evaluation, physicist review, or manufacturer support confirms safe operation.
If the Problem Persists
If the MAGNETOM Aera continues to show artifacts, ghosting, shading, distortion, RF noise, or repeated QA failure after external causes have been ruled out, the issue may involve internal RF chain components, gradient performance, receive electronics, system calibration, shielding integrity, reconstruction, or environmental interference.
The MRI system should be:
- Removed from clinical service if image quality is unreliable
- Labeled Out of Service according to facility policy
- Escalated to Siemens service, MRI physicist, or qualified imaging service support
- Evaluated on the bench/system level before being returned to patient use
Knowing when to stop is proper troubleshooting. MRI image quality problems can affect diagnosis and should not be treated as routine nuisance errors.
Clinical Use Tip
Do not troubleshoot image quality issues during an active patient exam unless patient safety requires immediate action. End the scan safely, move the patient to another available scanner if needed, and perform troubleshooting only when the magnet room and patient workflow are controlled.
Work Order Documentation (CCR Method)
CCR = Complaint, Cause, Resolution
Complaint
What was reported by the clinical staff.
Example:
"MRI staff reported ghosting and shading on MAGNETOM Aera images, with the daily phantom QA scan failing uniformity."
Cause
What was observed during troubleshooting.
Example:
"Clinical Engineering found the QA phantom was not centered correctly and a non-MR accessory cart had been left near the scan room doorway."
Resolution
What action was taken.
Example:
"Removed the accessory cart, repositioned the phantom at isocenter, repeated QA successfully, and returned the MRI system to service."
Helpful Details to Include (If Known)
- Whether the issue occurred during patient imaging or QA
- Artifact type observed
- Coil used during the failure
- Whether another coil was tested
- Phantom position and condition
- Room door fully closed and sealed
- Any unusual equipment found in or near the MRI room
- Protocol or sequence affected
- Table position or anatomy scanned
- System warning messages
- Whether QA passed after repeat testing
- Final device status
Final Thought
MRI artifact troubleshooting should move from patient safety to simple external checks before assuming a deeper system fault. Coils, positioning, RF interference, protocol selection, phantom setup, and room conditions should be ruled out first. If QA continues to fail or image quality remains uncertain, escalation is the correct and safest action. Clear CCR documentation helps protect patients, staff, and the service history of the scanner.
That is successful troubleshooting.