Pain, Safety, and Image Quality of Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Cochlear Implants: A Prospective Trial

Sunday, October 12, 2025

9:54 AM - 10:00 AM EDT

Location: 244

Disclosure(s):

Jeffrey D. Sharon, MD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: To explore the impact of rotating cochlear implant (CI) magnets on patient comfort and image usability during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Prospective cohort study was conducted on adult patients with either unilateral or bilateral CI who underwent an MRI of any body part at two separate tertiary academic centers. The primary outcome measure was the mean difference in pain score from baseline (prior to headwrap) to maximal reported pain during an MRI scan with a CI magnet in place. Secondary outcome measures included patient responses to a survey about the experience as well as usability of the brain MRI images involving implants with rotating magnets as assessed by two independent, blinded neuroradiologists.

Results: A total of 23 MRI scans (21 patients) in patients with CIs were included. There were 11 scans (47.8%) in patients with CIs containing internal magnets that have the ability to self-align with the magnetic field. Median time between most recent cochlear implantation and MRI scan was 5.4 years (range 0.2 – 24.2 years). The mean difference in pain score not associated with the headwrap in the setting of rotating magnet devices was significantly lower than for fixed magnet devices (0.7 vs 4.0, p = 0.02). There were no cases of magnet displacement or depolarization. Average artifact size of maximal signal loss on axial imaging of six MRI brain sequences in patients with rotating magnet devices was 6.1cm (SD 1.2cm). The majority of patients (70.0%) generally agreed that they would be willing to get another MRI done if medically necessary.

Conclusions: CIs containing rotatable magnets resulted in decreased pain compared to those with fixed magnets during MRI acquisition. The artifact generated by the magnet does not limit the utility of the scan in the majority of cases.

Presenting Author(s)

EP

Evan J. Patel, MD

Resident Physician
University of California - San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.

Co-Author(s)

XW

Xin Wu, MD

University of California San Francisco, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
JM

Joel McLouth, MD

University of California San Francisco, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
DS

Daniel Sun, MD

Neurotology Fellow
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
BW

Bryan K. Ward, MD

Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.

Senior Author(s)

Jeffrey D. Sharon, MD

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery
UCSF Medical Center
San Francisco, CA, United States

Disclosure(s):
faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.