MRI Service

Your doctor may recommend an MRI for a wide range of injuries, illnesses, or conditions when a highly detailed view of specific body parts, particularly soft tissues like muscles, organs, and connective tissue, is needed. For instance, if you’re experiencing unexplained headaches, dizziness, or vision changes, an MRI of the brain could be crucial. Beyond ruling out serious issues like tumors or strokes, it can help pinpoint other causes such as inflamed blood vessels (sometimes associated with certain types of migraines or conditions like vasculitis), infections, or structural problems. An MRI is also often essential for persistent joint pain or athletic injuries, providing clear images of ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and bone marrow in areas like the knee, shoulder, or spine. Additionally, an MRI is frequently used to investigate abdominal or pelvic pain, assess organs such as the liver, kidneys, or reproductive system for conditions like cysts, masses, or inflammation, or to evaluate certain types of cancer. Ultimately, an MRI is recommended when its superior detail is key to an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. 

• Please be sure to bring your referral from your doctor or we may not be able to perform your test.
• Arrive at our office 30 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time. These 30 minutes will allow you to complete a medical history form and to finish drinking the oral contrast – if applicable – before your study begins.
• If you are having an MRI of the abdomen performed, do not eat or drink 4 hours before your procedure.
• Before your exam, you will change into a gown provided by the facility.
• It’s helpful for us to know ahead of time whether you have any implants, a pacemaker, or other metal in your body, or if pregnancy is possible, so we can choose the safest, most appropriate protocol for your scan.
• Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing on the day of your exam, and leave metal at home, including jewelry, watches, and some cosmetics. 

For exams using our short-bore or wide-bore MRI units, you’ll lie on a table that slides into the tube-like bore, which contains the magnets that create the field needed for the scan. During the exam, you won’t feel anything unusual, but you will hear a repeated knocking or buzzing sound as the images are recorded—this is completely normal. You can talk with the technologist throughout the scan, and you’ll have the option to listen to satellite radio; hearing protection is also available for anyone who prefers it. For extremity MRI, you’ll relax in a chair while only the affected limb goes into a small bore—a good option if you feel uneasy about a traditional bore exam.

You can help produce the highest quality images by lying still and breathing normally throughout the exam. Most scans take 5 to 15 minutes, with some specialized exams taking longer; the complete visit, including check-in, is typically about 30 to 45 minutes, though more complex exams may take over an hour.

This exam is available at the following locations:

• Princeton
• Mercerville
• Monroe 
• Freehold
• Marlboro
• Wayne
• Windsor 
• Mountain Lakes
• Newtown