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MRI Safety Checker: Body Jewelry

What to know and ask about body jewellery before an MRI scan: titanium, BioFlex, steel, gold, and dermals. A patient preparation guide.

The MRI Safety Checker helps clients with piercings, professional piercers, and radiographers document jewelry materials, evaluate scanner risks, and generate technical disclosure cards for magnetic resonance imaging appointments.

What it is for

An MRI examination with body jewelry involves magnetic deflection, RF heating of conductive loops, and diagnostic image distortion. Appointments are often cancelled when patients cannot identify their jewelry metals.

This tool catalogs piercings against standards such as ASTM F136, ASTM F67, ASTM F138, and ASTM B392, as well as non-metal materials like BioFlex® body jewelry and borosilicate glass. Users inventory their piercings, record removability, and print a technical disclosure card in eight languages for clinical staff.

Who it is for

This tool serves three user groups:

  1. Pierced clients preparing for an MRI who need to verify material safety and discuss piercings with clinical staff.
  2. Professional body piercers assisting clients with pre-scan assessments, jewelry removal, and non-metal retainers.
  3. Radiographers and MRI safety officers who require a technical disclosure specifying anatomical locations, ASTM grades, and retainer plans before scanning.

How to use it

Building your body piercing checklist

  1. Open the 1. Body Checklist & Card tab.
  2. Under Body Piercing Checklist, click any quick-add button to add a row to Configured Piercings. Options include Ears (lobes, cartilage, tragus, conch, daith, industrial), Nostril, Septum, Lip, Labret, Philtrum / Medusa, Tongue / Oral, Eyebrow / Bridge, Nipples, Navel (Belly button), Genital piercings, Dermals / Surface Anchors (implanted base plate), Non-metal retainers already fitted, and Closed-over piercings (may still contain fragments/jewellery).
  3. In each row, verify Piercing Location, set count under Qty, select material under Material (if known), specify removability under Can you remove it yourself?, set status under Retainer fitted?, and enter notes under Notes for Radiographer.
  4. Click Remove in any row to delete that entry.

Generating the radiographer disclosure card

  1. Scroll to Radiographer Disclosure Card on the same tab.
  2. Select your clinical team's language from Language for Printed Card:.
  3. Enter your name into Patient Name:.
  4. Select your appointment date under Scan Date:.
  5. Enter the anatomical area under Body Part Being Scanned:.
  6. Review the generated card summary table, patient details, and disclaimer declaration.

Looking up material compositions and scanner risks

  1. Open the 2. Material Compositions tab to view What Each Material Is Made Of.
  2. Enter a material or alloy name into Search materials (e.g. BioFlex, titanium, steel, gold, glass)....
  3. Filter entries by clicking All Materials ({count}), Non-Metallic Polymers & Glass ({count}), or Metals & Alloys ({count}).
  4. Review material cards to inspect Composition & Structure, Magnetic Behavior, RF Induction & Heating Risk, Image Artifact / Distortion, and What to Brief the Radiographer.

Planning your appointment timeline and call script

  1. Open the 3. Before Your Appointment tab to view Before Your Appointment: Plan Ahead.
  2. Follow the roadmap: 3–5 Days Before for Call the Scan Site, 1–2 Days Before for Visit Your Piercer, Fresh Piercings for Fresh Piercings Need Retainers, and Day of Scan for Bring the Printable Card.
  3. Review the five talking points in Phone Script for Calling the Scan Site before calling the scan facility.
  4. Click Copy Phone Script to copy the text to your clipboard.
  5. Review Jewellery That Will Not Come Out and Tattoos and Permanent Makeup for handling stuck jewelry and ink safety.

Reviewing surface anchor precautions and non-metal retainers

  1. Open the 4. Dermals & Retainers tab to view Dermals and Surface Anchors.
  2. Read the Critical Advance Notice warning: Surface anchors cannot be taken out by the wearer. They are the single most important item to raise with the scan site in advance.
  3. Consult Non-Metal Retainers, Explained for technical properties of BioFlex® body jewelry PP-R polymer and borosilicate glass retainers.
  4. Click Learn more about retainer sizing and styles at Poli International (opens in top window) to browse available retainer profiles.

What it does not do

The tool does not perform other specialized studio or laboratory tasks:

Where your data lives

Checklist data, patient names, dates, anatomical locations, and notes reside solely in your browser local storage on your current device.

Nothing is transmitted over any network, and the tool makes no external server requests.

Clicking Clear Entries or clearing browser site storage immediately deletes all stored entries. Printed cards and PDF exports contain only the active checklist table, your stated name, the scan date, the anatomical area, and your briefing notes.

Printing and exporting

You can save and print your disclosure card from the 1. Body Checklist & Card tab:

  1. Click Save Locally (in this browser) to store checklist entries and patient details in local storage.
  2. Select your clinical team's language from Language for Printed Card: before printing.
  3. Click Print Disclosure Card to open the browser print dialog.
  4. Select a physical printer or choose Save as PDF. Dedicated print stylesheets automatically hide navigation tabs, action buttons, and theme toggles to produce a clean medical disclosure card.

Questions and answers

Can I wear titanium body jewelry during an MRI scan?

Implant-grade titanium (ASTM F136 or ASTM F67) is non-ferromagnetic and will not be pulled by an MRI magnet. However, titanium still causes localized image artifacts, and closed loops can heat up during RF pulsing, so the radiographer must evaluate the scan site.

Can I keep BioFlex® body jewelry in during an MRI?

BioFlex® body jewelry contains no metal and is not magnetic, so many people wear it instead of metal jewelry for MRI and X-ray. Always tell the radiology staff and follow their decision.

Are plastic or PTFE retainers the same as BioFlex®?

No. BioFlex® body jewelry is a PP-R random copolymer made in one piece, with no joints or glued parts, whereas PTFE is a fluoropolymer machined from rod, with different physical structure and mechanical properties. Neither contains metal, but they are distinct materials with different flexibility.

Can a radiographer refuse to perform an MRI if I have piercings?

Yes, the radiographer and imaging director have clinical authority to postpone or cancel any scan if unverified jewelry poses a safety or diagnostic hazard. Presenting an accurate technical disclosure card with verified ASTM material grades helps clinical staff make an informed decision.

Can I remove a surface anchor or microdermal before an MRI?

You must never attempt to remove the implanted base plate of a surface anchor at home, as tissue has integrated into its perforations and forceful removal causes severe tearing. A professional piercer can remove the decorative top, and any base plate extraction must be performed by a trained professional using sterile instruments.

Why does stainless steel body jewelry have to be removed for an MRI?

Commercial stainless steels often contain ferromagnetic phases that experience strong magnetic attraction inside the scanner bore. Even certified implant-grade stainless steel (ASTM F138 316LVM) creates severe image dropouts, so imaging facilities routinely require all steel jewelry to be removed.

Limits

The MRI Safety Checker provides educational information based on jewelry material properties and published standards. It cannot physically test your jewelry to confirm that an item is genuinely ASTM F136 rather than an uncertified alloy.

The tool cannot predict exact heating risks for specific scanner pulse sequences, coil geometries, or individual patient anatomy.

Hospital protocols vary between facilities. The radiographer, MRI safety officer (MRSO), and supervising radiologist retain absolute responsibility for patient safety and diagnostic quality, and their decisions always supersede any information from this tool.

Use the tool

Open the MRI Safety Checker: Body Jewelry. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.