Magnetic shielding through the use of high permeability material. The iron provides a return path for the stray field lines of magnetic flux and so significantly decreases the flux away from the magnet.
Passive shielding (see also Faraday cage) significantly eases the problems of siting a MR imager in a confined space. Ferromagnetic objects are less prone to being attracted to the magnet, ancillary electronic equipment, credit cards and computer disks can be brought closer to the magnet and the MRI safety limit for pacemaker wearers (the 5 gauss line = 0.5 mT) is reduced from, typically, 10 m to 2 m from the magnet. A passive shield for a whole-body MRI magnet weights many tons. An alternative method of controlling stray field is active shielding.

See also Active Shielding, Magnetic Shielding, Self Shielding and Room Shielding.

Means to confine the region of strong magnetic field surrounding a magnet; most commonly the use of material with high permeability (passive shielding) or by employing secondary counteracting coils outside of the primary coils (active shielding). The high permeability material can be employed in the form of a yoke immediately surrounding the magnet (self-shielding) or installed in the walls of a room as full or partial room-shielding. Unlike shielding ionizing radiation, for example, magnetic shielding can only be accomplished by forcing the unavoidable magnetic return flux through more confined areas or structures, not by absorbing it.

See also Radio Frequency Shielding Radio Frequency Shielding, and Faraday cage.

See also the related poll result: 'Most outages of your scanning system are caused by failure of'

Radio frequency shielding includes the construction of enclosures for the purpose of reducing the transmission of electric or magnetic fields from one space to another (Faraday cage, Faraday shield). Electrically conducted shielding is designed to isolate MRI systems from its environment at the resonant frequencies.
All electronic and computer systems radiate certain frequencies of radio and magnetic waves. They can interfere with other equipment in the vicinity. Magnetic shielding enclosures are used to reduce the levels of RF radiation that enters or leaves the shielded room.
Copper shielding enclosures are designed to filter a range of frequencies under specified conditions. One of the characteristics of copper is its high electrical conductivity. Also its other physical properties like ductility, malleability, and ease of soldering, make it an ideal material for radio frequency shielding. Sheet copper can be formed into any shape and size, and electrically connected to a grounding system to provide an effective RF shielding.

See also MRI Safety

Quick Overview

Zipper artifacts appear as dashed lines. There are various causes for this MRI artifact.
Most of zipper artifacts result from inhomogeneities of the magnetic field caused by interferences with radio frequency from various sources ('your radio is working in the scanner room means your shielding is not working'). Software and equipment problems can also cause zipper lines in both directions.

Scanning room door during the acquisition of images is closed, shielding is working, and all disturbing devices are removed?

See also Room Shielding, Active Shielding, Radio Frequency Shielding.

Chemical shift depends on the nucleus and its environment and is defined as nuclear shielding / applied magnetic field. Nuclei are shielded by a small magnetic field caused by circulating electrons, termed nuclear shielding. The strength of the shield depends on the different molecular environment in that the nucleus is embedded. Nuclear shielding is the difference between the magnetic field at the nucleus and the applied magnetic field.
Chemical shift is measured in parts per million (ppm) of the resonance frequency relative to another or a standard resonance frequency.
The major part of the MR signal comes from hydrogen protons; lipid protons contribute a minor part. The chemical shift between water and fat nuclei is about 3.5 ppm (~220 Hz; 1.5T). Through this difference in resonance frequency between water and fat protons at the same location, a misregistration (dislocation) by the Fourier Transformation take place, when converting MR signals from frequency to spatial domain. This effect is called chemical shift artifact or chemical shift misregistration artifact.