Metal Detectors, MRI Pose High Risk For Pellet Victims: Expert

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23th August, 2016) : Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) has said that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners and metal detectors could prove fatal in persons with retained pellets. Days after Indian paramilitary forces admitted to having fired over a million pellets on protesters in Kashmir, a doctors' body in a statement said that the pellet victims could face life- threatening situation by going through MRI tests or simply passing through metal detectors installed at airports, KMS reported. DAK President Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan said that MRI scanners and metal detectors could prove fatal in persons with retained pellets.

"Metal detectors and MRI scanners generate a strong magnetic field as a result of which pellets lodged in body could potential move. This migration is particularly dangerous if pellets are near vital organs like brain or spinal cord," he said. Studies have revealed that MRI environment is not safe for persons with pellets, he said.

"These pellets are strongly deflected in the magnetic field and several deaths have been reported in patients with pellets who have undergone MRI scanning." "It is well known that pellets can pose risk to soft tissue and to vascular and neural structures due to movement and heating effects in the MRI environment," he added. MRI is an essential diagnostic tool used to detect cancer of brain and spinal cord and we can't use it on pellet victims, said Dr Nisar. "Walk over metal detectors at airports, office buildings, shopping malls, railway stations and courtyards and roadside frisking by handheld metal detectors pose a serious threat to the lives of pellet victims," he said. "Pellets embedded deep in the body are often untouched as attempts to remove them could cause bleeding or even injuries to vital organs."