WESTBURY, N.Y. (WPIX) – A man was critically injured during an incident with an MRI machine on Long Island, New York, on Wednesday, according to the Nassau County Police Department.
Police said it happened at Nassau Open MRI in the village of Westbury around 4:30 p.m. A 61-year-old man entered a magnetic resonance imaging room without permission while the machine was in progress, according to authorities.
Police said the man was wearing a large metallic chain around his neck, causing him to be sucked into the machine.
The man suffered a “medical episode,” according to authorities. Police said he was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
No other details were immediately provided.
MRI machines detect disease or ailments by using very powerful magnets to create a strong magnetic field to scan the body and produce images of its “non-bony parts or soft tissues,” according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
“The magnetic field extends beyond the machine and exerts very powerful forces on objects of iron, some steels, and other magnetizable objects; it is strong enough to fling a wheelchair across the room,” it stated.