MRI scan will not start: what to check before calling service
Most stops come from something small: a connector, a door, a wrong selection, a full disk. Work from the simple cause to the complex one, change one thing at a time, and write down the exact message before it disappears.
Before anything else
- Patient first. If the system is unstable, stop the scan and bring the patient out; use the manual table release if the table does not respond
- Read the whole message. Write down the text, the error code and the time, or photograph the screen
- Check the three usual causes: scan room door fully closed, coil plugged in and the same coil selected in the protocol, table at the correct position
- Try once more. If the same error returns, do not keep repeating it
- Then go up one level at a time: restart the scan application, restart the whole system, call service
The scan will not start
Door switch open, coil not detected, table not in position, patient weight or orientation not entered, a parameter outside its limit, SAR or stimulation limit exceeded, a gated sequence with no trigger signal, disk full, or the previous scan or reconstruction still running.
- Read the message line: it nearly always names the cause
- Close the door firmly and check the door indicator
- Look for parameters marked in red or yellow and accept the system's suggested correction, or reduce slices or lengthen TR
- Confirm patient registration is complete: weight, position, entry direction
- Wait for the reconstruction queue to empty
The same message returns after a restart with a phantom on the table.
This page is one entry from the MRI Technologist Reference
The full reference has 31 protocols, 9 dynamic study timelines, 19 artifacts, 16 scanner problems and 15 safety topics, as a PDF in English and Arabic plus an interactive tool.
Educational reference. It does not replace your site protocols, the radiologist's instructions, the MR safety officer, or the manufacturer's instructions for any implant, device or contrast agent. Parameter values are typical starting points at 1.5 T and must be adapted to the scanner, coil and patient.