It’s great news for the millions who rely on implanted devices such as pacemakers, but were prohibited from undergoing MRI exams, said lead author Sanjaya K. Gupta, MD, from Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri.

“While all devices implanted in patients today are MRI compatible, millions of people worldwide, including many young people, have older devices considered not compatible," Gupta added in a statement. "It's unfair to tell these people that they can't get an MRI for the rest of their lives."

Read the full stud "Safety and Clinical Impact of MRI in Patients with Non–MRI-conditional Cardiac Devices", and the full article in Health Imaging: MRI safely performed in patients with cardiac devices long-considered to be incompatible