Recall alert: Philips recalls Panorama MRI due to risk of explosion during quench procedure

The Food and Drug Administration has announced the recall of 150 MRI machines made by Philips. The recall is a correction and not a removal.

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The Panorama 1.0T HFO machine helps doctors make diagnoses by taking images of the insides of patients.

Philips North America LLC said the device can have an excessive pressure buildup of helium gas which could cause an explosion. It happens during a quench, which the FDA said is not common. During the procedure, “a large amount of helium evaporates and is vented outside the building through a venting system.”

If the venting system is blocked,d the pressure can build and if it goes beyond design limits the “structural integrity of the system could be compromised.”

There could be an unintended quench by the magnet in the Panorama 1.0T HFO during normal use or during an emergency when the operator hits the “Magnet EMERGENCY STOP” button.”

There has been a single report of an explosion in 22 years of use and no one was hurt or killed.

Philips has reached out to the healthcare facilities that have the recalled MRIs, which were told to not use the systems, not to hit the manual stop button unless there’s an emergency, to post a “Do not use” notice on or near the MRI and to make sure that teams are aware of the issue.

A field service engineer will be deployed to inspect the MRI and do any repairs as necessary.

This is classified as a Class I recall, the most serious type, the FDA said. The recall is a correction and not a removal.

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