Glossary
MRI Technologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential MRI technologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key MRI technologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in MRI technologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Artifact
- Image distortion.
- Claustrophobia
- Fear of tight spaces.
- Coil
- Receives the MRI signal.
- Contrast reaction
- Allergic reaction to contrast.
- Ferromagnetic
- Attracted by the magnet.
- Gadolinium
- MRI contrast agent.
- Implant screening
- Checking devices for safety.
- Magnet
- The MRI’s strong magnetic field.
- Protocol
- Set of sequences.
- Quench
- Emergency magnet shutdown.
- Safety zones
- Restricted areas around the magnet.
- SAR
- Heating from radio waves.
- Sequence
- A specific scan type.
- T1 and T2
- Image weightings.
- Tesla
- Unit of magnetic field strength.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free MRI Technologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see MRI Technologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.