Are the Fitbit trackers affected by the MRI room?

[Cmoprea]

I work in MRI and an wondering if my fitbit will short out/de-magnetize like a cell phone or credit card will. I understand some of the materials in the fitbit are ferromagnetic and will pull into the MRI unit but am only concerned with it working after being exposed to the magnetic field.

Moderator edit: Clarified subject.

[Raccooneye226]

The charge 5 does not work. It just malfunctions and shut off even after just 5 secs of being near an MRI.

The charge 4 on the contrary had no such issues. No idea why. But strongly suggest the charge 4 if you are an MRI Tech.

[OhNo06]

I've never had a problem wearing my fitbit inside the scan room for years, maybe needed to charge more frequently, but no issues.  I bought a Charge 5 yesterday, worked great, went into the scan room, came out & nothing!  No clue what happened to it...where can i get an older version?

[Wgat]

I placed mine in a locker room next to scanner.

It gave constant readings  high 143 and below on my android phone when I reviewed my daily activities for the hour I was 

in the scanner.

When I took it off later it showed no readings for the period it was off.

Worked normally  since.

[TMtech]

I wore charge 5 in today and it went black.  Last week I wore a new Versa 4 in same thing. Goes black within hours of wearing it into the magnet room. Are you still having good luck with your inspire 2? 

[TMtech]

 I too am an MRI tech.  I also had issues with my Charge 5 going black today.  The Versa 4 also went black after one visit into the magnet room last week.  I wore a  Charge 3 and 4 for many years without any issues.  Does anyone know why the new fitbits can not handle the  magnet room when the old ones worked fine??

[FootballMom11]

I’m 11 months in now and wear my Inspire 2 at work every day. It still works great - even the vibration feature.

Sent from my iPhone

[Firwinga]

This happened to me today when I went in to help my partner get up from the mri table - black as night and will not charge. 

[Wgat]

Yes ,even in the next room readings went off the scale when I wasnt wearing it.

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[FootballMom11]

My Inspire 2 is still going strong, almost a year later.

[FootballMom11]

Because of the shielding around the MRI, the magnetic field doesn’t extend outside of the scan room. Any Fitbit would be fine in the Tech room or the locker room.

[Rich_Laue · Accepted solution]

Some trackers, Sense, Luxe, Versa, and tge Inspire lines have magnets to hold the charging cable on. 

Yes this magnet would be a problem and risk to the patient if wearing it, while inside an MRI. 

For the technician, they are never in the room while the MRI is turned on and therefore not a problem. 

[lmhester1985]

I’m a technologist. ***

and the magnet is always on….whether the technologist is in the room or not. You can’t turn off a high powered magnet like that. 

[Profisher05]

I work in a 3T MRI and accidently wore my Charge 5 inside near the bore and it went black. After a day, i tried the charger, and it sticks and vibrates that its charging but the screen is dead.

[MriTech27]

Sorry, but you are not completely correct. The magnet, whether scanning a patient or not, is always on. While I had my old fitbit charge on in our 1.5T scanner multiple times (on accident), I had some issues but it did continue to work, however as soon as I noticed I immediately took it off and aways. However my new fitbit was completely ruined when I accidentally forgot to take it off the first and only time it was near our 3T magnet.

[Cgregory317]

I am an MRI technologist also, for 32 years. I have had two Altas that were never affected by our magnets, until we got a GE 3 tesla magnet. When exposed to the GE, the battery would die, but it would charge and eventually be ok.the Siemens magnets we have didn't affect the Alta at all. I  have replaced the Alta with Inspire 3's and have now gone through 3 of them because they have died when I walked into the room. The last one, that I just got two days ago and went to work with today just died after being in the room for less than 5 minutes. Techs, do not wear these in the room. I won't be buying Fitbit products anymore. Also, the magnet is never off. The person ,Rich_Laue ,  who attempted to answer this question is entirely incorrect in saying that the magnet can be turned off. 

 

[Ksullivan15]

I'm a tech aide (GE Pioneer 3T and Siemens Espree 1.5) and I just fried my THIRD luxe in 10 months. 

The first one I obviously didn't know that was going to happen. The 2nd time, I forgot to take it off, and now that it's cold outside, I am wearing a sweatshirt and forgot it was on. 😭 After the second time, I made it a general rule for myself that I wouldn't even wear them into the building anymore to avoid this happening.

Funnily enough, the vibration feature still works (when I connect it to the charger or tap the screen), but it will not sync and the face no longer works. 

I'm SO mad at myself.

rich, just so you are aware, MRI machines never power down unless you initiate a quench - which should really only be done in the most extreme emergencies. the magnetic field inside of an MRI suite is always active.

[Merissa-Larson]

I recently upgraded from the Versa 3 to the Versa 4. I wore my Versa 3 in the MRI room to line up patients for a year and a half. I wore my Versa 4 in the MRI room once and the screen went black, no lights on the back of the watch would work and it would only vibrate when I would try to restart it. Fitbit ended up replacing the Versa 4. Hopefully they fix this problem in the future. I like to keep track of my steps when I am at work! 

[Brady675]

Hi,

MRI's are always at field even if they are not being used unless the system has been ramped down for service. Don't wear your Fidbit in the room. It will stop working like mine...ugh I forgot to take it off. Hopefully it will work later.

[Brent_S]

The 1st part of your response is accurate it will affect the magnet in the Fitbit and can cause a burn on the patient. The part about the technician should be deleted or at least ignored. First of all a technologist is the healthcare professional that goes in the room to get you ready for your scan and preforms the test for you. Second and much more important is the fact that THE MAGNET IS ALWAYS ON. It can be dangerous to ever think otherwise. It's ok to say you don't know some parts of the answer.

Brent RT(R)(CT)(MR)